Welcome to our comprehensive guide to the Final Fantasy XIVjob tier list for the Dawntrailexpansion, updated for Patch 7.05. Whether you're a returning player, a new adventurer, or a seasoned veteran looking to optimize your raid group, this guide will help you understand the current state of Eorzea's jobs. A fundamental truth of FFXIV is that every job is viable and can be used to clear all content, from casual dungeons to the most challenging Savage raids. However, as with any game that has multiple classes, some jobs have unique strengths that make them more desirable or easier to play at a high level.
This list is a guide for players looking for an edge in end-game content and is in no way a definitive judgment on a job's value. The best job is always the one you enjoy playing and are skilled at.
This guide is a synthesis of community discussion, expert analysis, and a detailed examination of the official Patch 7.05 notes. It aims to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information on the Dawntrail job meta.
To create this definitive list, we've ranked each job based on the following criteria for high-end content:
- Damage Output: A job's potential to deal damage, both in single-target boss fights and multi-target encounters.
- Utility & Support: The value a job brings to the party through unique abilities, such as damage buffs, defensive cooldowns, or crowd control.
- Ease of Use: How difficult a job is to master and perform optimally in a given fight. A job with an easy, flexible rotation is often more consistent than a job with a complex, rigid one.
Here is a quick-reference table for the Dawntrail job meta. Remember, your personal skill and party composition can shift these rankings.
| Role | Tier Breakdown |
| Tanks | S-Tier: Gunbreaker, Warrior |
| A-Tier: Paladin, Dark Knight |
| Healers | S-Tier: Astrologian, Scholar |
| A-Tier: White Mage, Sage |
| Melee DPS | S-Tier: Monk, Samurai, Ninja, Dragoon, Viper |
| A-Tier: Reaper |
| Physical Ranged DPS | S-Tier: Dancer, Bard |
| B-Tier: Machinist |
| Magical Ranged DPS | S-Tier: Summoner, Pictomancer |
| A-Tier: Red Mage, Black Mage |
Collage image of Paladin, Warrior, Dark Knight, & Gunbreaker. These two jobs are the gold standard for tanks in Dawntrail. They offer the best blend of damage, defense, and self-sustain.
- Gunbreaker:The undisputed king of tank DPS. It boasts the highest damage ceiling in its role, a fast-paced rotation, and excellent personal defensive cooldowns. Its straightforward burst window and consistent damage make it a perfect fit for the current raid meta.
- Warrior:The most self-sufficient tank. With its incredible self-healing abilities, a skilled Warriorcan often carry a party through difficult dungeon pulls without a healer's intervention. Its damage output is also very competitive, and its simple rotation makes it a fantastic option for both new and veteran players.
These jobs are more than capable of clearing all content but have unique characteristics that place them just outside the S-Tier.
- Paladin:A versatile tank with powerful defensive and offensive utility. Its party-wide mitigation and the ability to shield a single ally are invaluable. The Patch 7.05 potency buffs, including increases to its core combo, have made it an even more reliable and powerful choice.
- Dark Knight:This job is a classic high-risk, high-reward tank. It is celebrated for its fantastic damage potential and strong aesthetic. However, its mitigation is often seen as less forgiving than Warrior's and Gunbreaker's, requiring more precise timing and reliance on a healer's support. Patch 7.05 brought significant potency buffs to its core rotation, improving its damage output and making it a very strong contender.
Collage image of Astrologian, Scholar, & White Mage. These two jobs are consistently the most in-demand for high-end content due to their potent raid-wide utility and damage mitigation.
- Astrologian:Despite a major rework in Dawntrail, the Astrologian is still a powerhouse. The new card system removes a lot of the guesswork, providing a more consistent and powerful damage-buffing tool for the party. Its strong healing and defensive buffs make it a go-to for any raid group looking to maximize its damage output.
- Scholar:The premier shield healer. A skilled Scholar can preemptively mitigate massive amounts of damage, often negating the need for a heal entirely. With its fairy companion and an array of powerful shields and damage-over-time effects, the Scholar excels at proactive healing and damage contribution.
Both of these jobs are excellent choices, and can easily clear all content. Their primary difference from S-Tier jobs lies in their utility, which is often more focused on direct healing rather than raid-wide damage optimization.
- White Mage:The classic pure healer. White Mage's kit is focused on delivering incredibly potent burst heals to keep a party alive through intense damage. While it lacks the damage-boosting utility of Astrologian, its straightforward damage rotation and powerful healing make it an accessible and reliable choice.
- Sage:A shield healer similar to Scholar, but with a more reactive and damage-focused playstyle. Sage’s healingoften feels like a byproduct of its damage abilities, making it an engaging and fast-paced job. While its utility is slightly less impactful than Scholar's, its consistent damage and unique shielding kit make it a very strong choice.
Collage image of Monk, Samurai, Ninja, Dragoon, & Reaper. Melee DPS is in a fantastic place in Dawntrail, with a wide array of powerful and viable options. The distinctions between S-Tier jobs often come down to player preference.
- Monk:A fast-paced, high-damage melee job. Monk excels at consistent damage and boasts unique utility like a party-wide healing buff. The job is highly rewarding to master and provides a very satisfying rotation.
- Samurai:A pure DPS monster. Samurai received significant quality-of-life changes in Patch 7.05 that streamlined its rotation and made its burst window much more flexible. These changes cemented its place as one of the best damage-dealers in the game. The job's focus on raw damage makes it a top pick for players who want to see big numbers.
- Ninja:Offers a blend of high damage, speed, and critical utility. Ninja's "Trick Attack" buff is essential for optimizing party damage, making it a staple in raid groups. Its fast-paced Ninjutsu abilities and unique playstyle make it both rewarding and highly effective. Patch 7.05 removed the Huton Gauge, making the job even more streamlined.
- Dragoon:The "raid buff" melee. Dragoon's iconic "Battle Litany" provides a crucial damage buff to the entire party. The job’s classic combo-heavy rotation is enjoyable and its potent jumps make for a visually impressive playstyle.
- Viper: The newest melee DPS job. While a recent rework in Patch 7.05 simplified its rotation, Viper remains an S-tier job due to its incredibly high damage output. Its fast, fluid, and visually stunning combo system makes it an exciting new choice for players looking to top the damage charts.
- Reaper:A strong and reliable damage dealer. While it doesn't quite reach the damage ceiling of the S-tier melee jobs, its consistent damage, solid utility, and unique aesthetic make it a powerful choice. It is a particularly good pick for dungeon content where its area-of-effect damage shines.
Collage image of Dancer, Bard, & Machinist with the text "Physical Ranged DPS". - Dancer:The quintessential support DPS. Dancer’s "Dance Partner" buff gives a massive damage boost to the strongest DPS in the party, and its raid-wide mitigation is invaluable. The job’s priority-based rotation and high mobility make it a fun and flexible choice.
- Bard:Another powerful support DPS. Bard's songs provide consistent damage buffs to the entire party, and its utility through powerful crowd control abilities makes it highly sought after. Its mobility and weaving-heavy rotation are a blast to play.
- Machinist:A purely selfish DPS. Machinist's kit is designed to deal consistent personal damage, but it lacks the powerful party-wide utility of its ranged counterparts, Dancer and Bard. While a good Machinist can deal excellent damage, the lack of raid buffs means it is often overlooked in favor of the S-tier jobs in high-end content.
Collage image of Summoner, Pictomancer, Red Mage, & Black Mage with the text Magical Ranged DPS. - Summoner:The most mobile caster in the game. Summoner’s rotation is incredibly flexible, with many instant-cast spells and the ability to revive fallen allies. Its burst damage is strong, and its unparalleled mobility makes it an asset in fights with heavy movement.
- Pictomancer:The new caster on the block. Pictomancer launched with unexpectedly high damage output, so much so that Square Enix had to buff other jobs in Patch 7.05 to keep up. Its unique drawing-based spells and massive area-of-effect potential make it a top-tier choice for both single-target and multi-target encounters.
- Red Mage:A versatile and flexible hybrid job. Red Mage blends melee and magical attacks and has the crucial ability to instantly revive fallen party members. While its damage doesn't reach the heights of the S-tier casters, its unmatched utility and mobility make it a fantastic and reliable choice.
- Black Mage: The undisputed king of raw, single-target magical damage. Black Mage has the highest damage ceiling in the game, but it comes at a price. Its rotation is a demanding puzzle of stationary casting, making it a very difficult job to play optimally in fights with a lot of movement. Recent Patch 7.05 quality-of-life changes, such as the new "Umbral Soul" effect, have improved its mobility and resource management, but it remains a job for those who love a challenge and seek to push the limits of what is possible.
- Best Tank:Gunbreaker for damage, Warrior for ease of use and self-sustain.
- Best Healer:Scholar for mitigation, Astrologian for raid buffs.
- Best Melee DPS:Viper for pure numbers, Ninja for raid utility.
- Best Physical Ranged DPS:Dancer for party damage buffs.
- Best Magical Ranged DPS:Pictomancer for raw damage, Summoner for mobility.
The tier list is a useful tool, but it's not the final word on what you should play. Here's how to use it to find the perfect job for you.
- Best FF14 Jobs for Beginners & Solo Play: If you're a new player or just want a casual experience, consider Warrior for its unmatched self-healing, Red Mage for its simplicity and self-sufficiency, or Summoner for its easy rotation and mobility. These jobs are forgiving and effective in all content.
- FF14 Jobs for Dedicated Raiders:If you're aiming for Savage raids and beyond, picking an S-Tier job will give your party an edge. Jobs like Gunbreaker, Scholar, and Dancer are always in demand.
- FF14 Jobs for a Challenge:If you crave complexity and a high skill ceiling, look no further than Black Mage, Dark Knight, or Monk. These jobs reward mastery with incredible performance and a deep sense of satisfaction.
It depends on the role and the content you're playing. For high-end raiding, the jobs in our S-tier are considered the "best." For solo play, a job like Warrior or Red Mage is often recommended for its survivability and ease of use.
Absolutely. A skilled player on a B-tier job will always outperform a mediocre player on an S-tier job. FFXIV is extremely well-balanced, and any job is capable of clearing all content, even Savage raids.
Tier listsare fluid and often change with new patches. Square Enix is constantly monitoring job performance and makes adjustments to ensure no job falls too far behind or becomes too dominant. This list is accurate as of Patch 7.05. Jobs like Warrior and Red Mage are generally considered the easiest to play due to their straightforward rotations and high utility.
No. Any stat differences between races are purely cosmetic and have a completely negligible impact on performance.
The current top picks for endgame raiding are:
- Viper, Monk, and Pictomancer- highest damage in top parses
- Scholar + Astrologian- top healer synergy
- Dancer- elite party-wide damage buff
This comp excels due to strong burst, uptime, and support synergy.
Raid buffs heavily influence job value:
- Dancer, Bard, Red Mage, and Astrologianboost party DPS
- Stacking buffs often outperforms raw personal damage
- Utility jobs can elevate the whole team’s performance, making them meta even with lower parses
In raids, synergy > solo DPS.
The Dawntrail expansion has brought with it a host of exciting changes and a vibrant new meta, offering every player fresh challenges and new ways to enjoy their favorite roles. While our guide provides a clear picture of the jobs currently excelling in high-end content, the single most important takeaway remains this: choose a job that resonates with you.
The true joy of Final Fantasy XIV isn't about chasing the highest numbers on a damage meter. It's about finding a playstyle that you genuinely love-whether it's the fast-paced, complex combos of a Monk, the precise, high-stakes casting of a Black Mage, or the powerful support and healing of a Scholar. An experienced player who is comfortable and skilled with their "B-tier" job will always outperform someone struggling to master a top-tier class.
So, take this guide as a helpful starting point, but don't let it dictate your journey. Pick a job that inspires you, embrace your role, and dive into the adventure that awaits.