Least Favorite / Most Favorite FFXIV Jobs - Twitter Community Votes

The week of 11/3-11/10 2025, I held a Twitter based collective survey of the communities least favorite and most favorite jobs in FFXIV. This was done purely out of boredom and holds little to no substantial weight. We received a total of 3,230 responses.

If I were to redo this again I would have added an option to select if people were a casual players base vs an endgame raiding base to see if there’s a difference in that realm as well.

I’m shocked by some of the results and I hope you get some fun information out of it as well! For the most common reasons I ONLY put reasons that were put by more than 1 person so if yours isn’t on there please don’t take it personal. I did, however, pull some honorable mention quotes.

I also want to thank you all for sharing so many stories with me. I got to read about why so many of you love the jobs you love and how some of them are just tied to “good memories,” and you were kind enough to share them (some made me cry), or some of you shared bad experiences with bad players. I am SO sorry one person makes the class sour for you. I hope your future experiences are so much better.

Enjoy the results :)

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OVERVIEW

LEAST FAVORITE

TANK

3,140 Votes

HEALER

3,138 Votes

MELEE

3,147 Votes

PHYS RANGE

3,140 Votes

MAGIC

3,142 Votes

PLD

30.6%

SCH

36.4%

MNK

32.9%

BRD

44%

SMN

40%

GNB

25.3%

WHM

23.9%

NIN

22.3%

MCH

35.2%

BLM

30.2%

WAR

22.4%

AST

23.8%

DRG

12.6%

DNC

20.8%

RDM

16.2%

DRK

21.7%

SGE

15.9%

RPR

11.2%

PCT

13.7%

SAM

11.1%

VPR

10%

MOST FAVORITE

TANK

3,177 Votes

HEALER

3,174 Votes

MELEE

3,168 Votes

PHYS RANGE

3,162 Votes

MAGIC

3,175 Votes

DRK

30.9%

SGE

31.3%

RPR

22.9%

DNC

43.9%

RDM

34.3%

GNB

24.9%

WHM

25.5%

DRG

20.2%

MCH

31.9%

BLM

26.7%

WAR

23.6%

AST

23.5%

VPR

16.8%

BRD

24.2%

PCT

23%

PLD

20.7%

SCH

19.6%

SAM

16.1%

SMN

16%

MNK

12.6%

NIN

11.3%

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LEAST FAVORITE TANK - PALADIN

Total Votes: 3,140

PALADIN: 30.6%

GUNBREAKER: 25.3%

WARRIOR: 22.4%

DARK KNIGHT: 21.7%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

PALADIN

  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • Terrible Storyline
  • Rotation is confusing

GUNBREAKER

  • Rotation is annoying
  • Too many buttons
  • Too much a dps and not a tank
  • “It’s like discount PLD with a poop your pants button to scare the healers” - less so now but still made me laugh

WARRIOR

  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • Warrior is too powerful with healing. The fact it can solo most content others can’t is offputting. No job should be a master of everything.

DARK KNIGHT

  • Thematically doesn’t fit its own fantasy
  • Wishes it played more the like PvP DRK
  • Rotation is overcomplicated
  • Give DRK more personal heals like its own personal excog for TBN or something
  • Too squishy

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LEAST FAVORITE HEALER - SCHOLAR

Total Votes: 3,138

SCHOLAR: 36.4%

WHITE MAGE: 23.9%

ASTROLOGIAN: 23.8%

SAGE: 15.9%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

SCHOLAR

  • Skill ceiling is too high/very hard to learn
  • Too many buttons for the output
  • Hate pet classes
  • Shield healing is scary
  • It’s own kit fights itself (i.e. eating fairy takes away half your kit but holding it is bad)
  • Most SCH players don’t know what they’re doing

WHITE MAGE

  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • Don’t like the gameplay style
  • Not as pretty as AST
  • WHM mains are too cocky/rude
  • Hates that its dps is so overwhelmingly high compared to all other healers, especially it’s selfish healer counterpart - sage
  • Sleep mage

ASTROLOGIAN

  • Playing with Tarot cards is difficult and/or feels clunky
  • Too much work/too many buttons for the lowest output damage wise

SAGE

  • The skill names are confusing
  • Eukrasia
  • “If I wanted to pretend I knew how to read I’d go sit in a cafe irl”
  • “Scholar’s Better” - EVERY SCH main ever
  • All the buttons look the same

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LEAST FAVORITE MELEE - MONK

Total Votes: 3,147

MONK: 32.9%

NINJA: 22.3%

DRAGOON: 12.6%

REAPER: 11.2%

SAMURAI: 11.1%

VIPER: 10%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

MONK

  • Rotation is confusing
  • Counting is hard
  • No ranged attack
  • The new streamlined monk feels 10x worse than old monk

NINJA

  • The bunny feels bad…
  • Ninjutsu Clipping - no we will not press them slower…none of us will
  • Rotation is too complicated
  • DPS right now feels lackluster
  • “Feels like I’m hitting enemies with a wet fish”

DRAGOON

  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • Rotation feels slow
  • AoE being line instead of cone/point blank feels bad
  • Leveling DRG is boring
  • No self mit/defensives

REAPER

  • Insists you commune with a demon
  • Boring rotation / clunky
  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • Gets punished the most with downtime in end game content

SAMURAI

  • Rotation feels boring
  • Positionals feel bad
  • “Any class that fills my greedy dps niche is a threat to me. Dying 1 minute in is my job dammit”

VIPER

  • Rotation is lackluster/boring
  • “Feels boneless yet vapid. It’s like brown rice; sure it’s good, but it’s also forgettable in a sea of much more interesting flavors, but someone put hot sauce on the brown rice because they heard that’s what all the kids like these days”
  • Rotation is too simple
  • Liked it a lot more before SE “dumbed it down”
  • No self mit/defensives
  • Toddler Job

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LEAST FAVORITE PHYSICAL RANGED - BARD

Total Votes: 3,140

BARD: 44%

MACHINIST: 35.2%

DANCER: 20.8%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

BARD

  • Haven’t played it enough
  • Rotations is lackluster/boring
  • Counting is hard
  • Low damage for the amount of buttons to push
  • Not controller player friendly
  • Button/proc roulette feels bad
  • Wish Bard was not a combat class
  • Cutting songs for perfect rotation is fucking dumb
  • Why are there 2 DoTs?!

MACHINIST

  • Thematically inconsistent
  • “Why am I pulling goofy devices out of my ass every ten seconds, I just want gun”
  • Haven’t played the class enough and like the others better
  • Currently the DPS is trash for it being the selfish phys

DANCER

  • Shatters fragile toxic masculinity by making you dance
  • Doesn’t like that it’s become the RP job for sexy characters - comes with a stigma
  • Proc gacha feels bad
  • Low personal DPS

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LEAST FAVORITE MAGIC: SUMMONER

Total Votes: 3,142

SUMMONER: 40%

BLACK MAGE: 30.2%

RED MAGE: 16.2%

PICTOMANCER: 13.7%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

SUMMONER

  • Because SE ran it into the ground and killed any fun that it used to be
  • Give back auto-attack carby
  • Hate pet classes
  • “If I wanted to play a melee/phys ranged, I’d have played those classes”
  • DPS too low for high end content
  • BRING BACK DoTs!

BLACK MAGE

  • Rotation feels overcomplicated
  • Requires you to know mechanics too well
  • Takes too long to “get fun”; i.e. why isn’t it fun until 80+

RED MAGE

  • Feels awful gameplay wise
  • Hate that it suffers in DPS because rez tax.
  • Just remove the rez

PICTOMANCER

  • Haven’t and refuses to play it
  • Rotation feels clunky
  • Motif painting ruins the flow
  • Simplicity is mind numbing

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NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF :D

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MOST FAVORITE TANK - DARK KNIGHT

Total Votes: 3,177

DARK KNIGHT: 30.9%

GUNBREAKER: 24.9%

WARRIOR: 23.6%

PALADIN: 20.7%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

DARK KNIGHT

  • TBN
  • Magic Tank
  • Great for endgame raiding
  • Best story
  • Resource management is engaging

GUNBREAKER

  • Love the complexity of the rotation and all the buttons to press
  • Squall

WARRIOR

  • Fell Cleave and Primal Ruination
  • UNGA BUNGA PRIMAL
  • Easy rotation but still powerful
  • HEALS!
  • Bloodwhetting is your best friend

PALADIN

  • Good mitigation
  • Enjoys swapping from magic to physical rotation

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MOST FAVORITE HEALER - SAGE

Total Votes: 3,174

SAGE: 31.3%

WHITE MAGE: 25.5%

ASTROLOGIAN: 23.5%

SCHOLAR: 19.6%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

SAGE

  • Feels better and more thought out than SCH
  • Better white mage with shields
  • Fluidity of skills feels better than SCH
  • Easy to pick up
  • Lasers 😀
  • Best control
  • “When the sage is good the party is basically immortal” (as a SGE main I can confirm this)

WHITE MAGE

  • Comfy healer
  • Straightforward kit

ASTROLOGIAN

  • Pretty aesthetic
  • Properly done burst phase feels beautiful
  • Hardest healer - most rewarding for nailing the rotation

SCHOLAR

  • Familiarity - 1st healer in the game
  • Like feeling like a tactician/strategist
  • Loves the big brain think of proper shielding
  • Thicc dumpy shields

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MOST FAVORITE MELEE - REAPER

Total Votes: 3,168

REAPER: 22.9%

DRAGOON: 20.2%

VIPER: 16.8%

SAMURAI: 16.1%

MONK: 12.6%

NINJA: 11.3%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

REAPER

  • Brain off easy rotation
  • Slice & Dice
  • Burst is fun

DRAGOON

  • Strict and not boring rotation while also being boring
  • “Kain Highwind is sexy”

VIPER

  • Rotation is easy but fluid
  • Best DPS output

SAMURAI

  • Raw Power
  • Best Aesthetic

MONK

  • Enjoys the optimization puzzle
  • First class in the game - memories

NINJA

  • Most satisfying to play after mastery
  • Naruto run
  • Feel like a piano master playing this class

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MOST FAVORITE PHYSICAL RANGED - DANCER

Total Votes: 3,162

DANCER: 43.9%

MACHINIST: 31.9%

BARD: 24.2%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

DANCER

  • Straightforward Gameplay
  • Proc roulette feels better than bard
  • Best looking weapons most times
  • Burst feels the best and most rewarding

MACHINIST

  • Despite the DPS issues and square ruining it, a lot of people still just really enjoy the feeling of MCH and consider it their “baby” - Good memories of the class

BARD

  • Managing song optimization scratches the good itch
  • Buffs

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MOST FAVORITE MAGIC: RED MAGE

Total Votes: 3,175

RED MAGE: 34.3%

BLACK MAGE: 26.7%

PICTOMANCER: 23%

SUMMONER: 16%

MOST COMMON REASONS:

RED MAGE

  • Aesthetically Pleasing
  • Good job for progging raid
  • Good utility
  • Melee combo fun
  • Simple rotation
  • God complex - ya’ll like saving runs a LOT
  • How “extra” they are
  • Verblind

BLACK MAGE

  • The desire to hold still helps master mechanics better
  • Powerful

PICTOMANCER

  • Fun to play
  • Like the aesthetic
  • Smudge

SUMMONER

  • Simple Rotation
  • Cute carbuncles
  • Bahamut

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HONORABLE MENTION: BLUE MAGE - I’M SORRY I DIDN’T INCLUDE YOU BUT IT WAS FOR COMBAT IN REGULAR CONTENT/HIGH END CLASSES

I SEE YOU BLUE MAGE LOVERS (you all were VERY loud xD)

**I read through over 900 comments on each category so I know there were some I missed or maybe glossed over. I did my best to keep it simple/concise. Please forgive me**