How To Change Class In FFXIV

How To Change Class In FFXIV
Images via Square Enix

Written by 

Liam Ho

Published 

24th May 2022 17:50

Want to know how to change class in FFXIV because you're bored of the class you're playing and fancy a change of pace? It's actually quite easy to change class in Final Fantasy XIV, though the game doesn't do a great job of explaining that to you. Here's what you need to know about changing class in FFXIV, whether you want to change combat type, magical abilities, or something else entirely.

How To Change Class In Final Fantasy XIV

Changing class in Final Fantasy XIV is as simple as changing your main weapon. In order to swap to a new class, equip a weapon of that class and the game will automatically switch you into said class.

For example, if I’m currently playing Scholar and equip a Dark Knight weapon, my character would automatically swap classes to a Dark Knight. This includes swapping my Hotbar and abilities from Scholar to Dark Knight. The one issue is, each time you change weapon it’ll make your character naked, but there is a way to fix that. 

Final Fantasy XIV Gear Sets Explained

a screenshot from Final Fantasy XIV
Click to enlarge

One of the easiest ways to change classes can be via Gear Sets. Gear sets allow you to pre-allocate equipment and assign it to a specific class. This means that you can change all your gear from one class to another and skip over the being naked part. This is by far the easiest way to change your class in Final Fantasy XIV and is also the least time-consuming. 

You can create a Gear Set from the Gear Set List in your Character Tab. From there, hit the plus button and it will create a Gear Set for the class you are on. The best part about Gear Sets is you can bind them to your HUD via clicking and dragging the icon. This means that in order to change class with this setup, all you need to do is press a single button.

 

How To Unlock Classes In Final Fantasy XIV

Some classes within Final Fantasy XIV need to be unlocked or upgraded from a previous job. These are jobs that typically were released during new expansions and therefore must be unlocked from the base game jobs. Unlocking jobs in Final Fantasy XIV is pretty easy, all it requires is a small questline that's normally named “So you want to be an (insert class here)”. Almost all class questlines can be picked up from the main cities but will have varying level requirements based on what expansion they were released in. 

The other way to unlock classes is via upgrading them from the previous job. These really only apply to the base game jobs that start at level 1 and are upgraded at level 30. In order to upgrade them, you’ll need to gain their soul crystal by progressing in their class quest. From there, equipping the class's soul crystal will your class from its base one. For example, Archer is upgraded to Bard or Lancer is upgraded to Dragoon.

Final Fantasy XIV Class Types

Finally, a quick explanation of what sort of jobs there are available in Final Fantasy XIV. There are two main categories for jobs, combat jobs and gatherers/ crafters. Combat classes are obviously used for combat, these are the main jobs you’ll use throughout dungeons and main story quests. Gatherers/ crafters do exactly what their name entails, they gather and craft. Gatherers/ crafters aren’t used in the main story quests but offer an enjoyable and relaxing time that can gather you a decent chunk of Gil if you really invest into it. 

Combat classes can be broken down further into 3 categories. These are all based on the way in which the class deals damage and the range in which they play. There is ranged physical, ranged magical and melee DPS. Ranged physical classes include Bard, Dancer, Machinist, essentially anyone who uses a physical weapon from afar. Magical DPS are the casters of the bunch, and typically wield books or staffs. Finally, melee DPS are any classes that play within the melee range of an enemy, examples being Samurai and Ninja.

Now you know how to change class, why not read up on how to buy a house in FFXIV?

 

Liam Ho
About the author
Liam Ho
Liam is a freelance writer from Sydney, Australia. He currently writes for GGRecon, Blitz UNSW and works as a team leader at Summoner’s Society OCE. He is addicted to MMOs, mainly Final Fantasy XIV.
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