Final Fantasy XI: The Best Endgame Jobs (With Subjob Ideas)

Deciding which jobs are the best for endgame may be the most debated topic in FFXI.

With the constant monthly updates to the 22 jobs, any given job’s strength may surge at a moment’s notice. Special thanks to Square Enix for that.

But with that being said, there are some jobs that have been very popular recently for endgame content.

Here’s our ranking of the best endgame jobs to pick up, along with suggested subjobs for each one.

10. Blue Mage

Widely considered the king of low-man or earlier endgame content, this job requires a lot of time and knowledge, but is capable of performing nearly any role in a party.

It’ll mostly be used as a physical DD due to the immense traits it gains from its spell lists.

It’s fallen slightly out of favor to other jobs in this list, moreso at the more intense fights at endgame, but Blue Mage still offers high value to any group it’s a part of.

Suggested Blue Mage Subjobs:

Warrior: Most often the go-to sub job. Offers lots of damage.

Red Mage: A very strong option for magic-focused blue mages while offering a wide range of defensive buffs like Stoneskin that free up blue magic point slots.

Dancer: Mostly only used in solo content, but having access to instant heals is nice!

Rune Fencer: A multifaceted job mostly used for its magical defense options. Using it can be technical.

9. Warrior

Warrior is very strong, to put it lightly!

It has great party-wide buffs, which go well with its massive range of accessible weapon choices.

But it’s most recognized for its Mighty Strikes ability which, while activated, turns warrior into the strongest DD in the game.

It often needs to have the Ragnarok relic in order to achieve this ability, though.

Suggested Warrior Subjobs:

Samurai: The standard 2-handed DD sub job. Store TP combined with Hasso, Meditate or Zanshin are invaluable.

Dragoon: Mostly used for its WS Damage Boost and Smite trait. High Jump is fantastic for enmity control.

Ninja: The defensive support job, capable of nullifying damage via Utsusemi. Sometimes used for its dual wield trait too!

Dancer: Great for soloing and a grants dual wield! It gives warriors access healing and support.

8. Samurai

Here’s an immensely powerful heavy DD job with many ways to deal damage.

But a Samurai build needs some investment in the form of their empyrean or mythic weapon.

It’ll usually be the most consistently strongest job in the party as far as skillchains are concerned, too.

Suggested Samurai Subjobs:

Dragoon: The WS Damage Boost and Smite traits massively help samurai, as well as High Jump for enmity control.

Warrior: Double Attack, Berserk and Warcry make this the second most popular subjob available for a Samurai, largely increasing their DPS.

Ninja: Defensive sub mostly used for Utsusemi. It’s advised to use lots of Fast Cast due to Samurai’s Hasso ability increasing cast and recast times.

7. Monk

With the recent hand-to-hand updates and fTP changes to weapon skills, this versatile job has become a serious damage dealing machine with the capability to tank.

The empyrean Verethragna propels this job to stardom.

And that goes double for endgame content.

Suggested Monk Subjobs:

Warrior: The most used subjob here. It only bolster’s a monks insane strength even more!

Rune Fencer: Good defensive option when a monk may be tanking or taking high magic damage.

Dancer: Great healing capability with some enfeebles to boot.

6. Red Mage

Red mage has gained massively new power in recent updates.

This is namely due to the changes to Saboteur, capable of shutting down enemies as soon as a fight starts.

Plus a Red mage can also deal very high amounts of magic damage via en-spells and magical weapon skills. So there’s a good amount of variety here.

It does require a very heavy investment gear-wise, and is quite technical to play, but many swear by it!

Suggested Red Mage Subjobs:

Ninja: Mostly used when meleeing for its Utsusemi and dual wield traits.

Dancer: Secondary melee job mostly used for good support and skillchain damage bonus.

Scholar: Access to dark arts and light arts enhances efficiency based on the role in a party. Stratagems are technical, but immensely helpful.

White Mage: Fantastic support job, namely used for Stona. Gives red mage access to lots of status removal spells and Repose, a light-based sleep.

5. Paladin

Besides its near impeccable ability to tank and survive, paladins are now also capable of being the sole healer of an entire party with AoE cures, thanks to Majesty.

It requires Aegis to be invited to parties, however.

Suggested Paladin Subjobs:

Blue Mage: By far the most commonly used subjob for paladins. Cocoon, Jettatura, Blank Gaze, Sheep Song and Geist Wall are perfect enmity tools.

Warrior: Situationally used for its damage traits and abilities.

4. Bard

With the recent changes to a bard’s merits and adjustments to Adventurer’s Dirge to control enmity, this job has surged in popularity.

As if it wasn’t already popular enough.

Note that running a bard requires a very heavy time or money investment in ultimate instruments, meaning it can be quite a slog to enter endgame with.

But it will become the staple of any party.

Suggested Bard Subjobs:

White Mage: Access to Erase, -Na spells, and Curaga to wake up sleeping party members.

Dancer: Good when soloing or meleeing. Access to further debuffs with steps, healing with waltzes and support with sambas.

3. White Mage

What more has to be said about the main healer?

A strong WHM is invaluable in any party setup, often seen as staples due to a white mage’s incredible healing abilities.

Their status removal spells become AoE with Yagrush, further adding to their exemplary value.

Suggested White Mage Subjobs:

Scholar: The most popular support job for WHM, incredible for MP management. Light arts is fantastic, and Sublimation wakes white mage up instantly after being slept!

Red Mage: Good for MP management, also offers Dispel, Sleep, and Fast Cast.

2. Rune Fencer

Ah yes, the Rune Fencer.

Basically the go-to tank in the current endgame era.

Rune fencers are capable of turning magic damage into nothing more than a tickle. And they can also deal respectfully high damage too, despite being a tanking job.

So there’s a good mix here, depending what you’d pick for a support job.

Suggested Rune Fencer Subjobs:

Blue Mage: Similarly to paladin, this’ll be their most used sub job for enmity spells and Cocoon.

Dark Knight: RDM’s best damage dealing support job! Offers tons of offense in addition to the Stun spell.

Samurai: Seigan, Third Eye and Hasso make this a good hybrid option.

1. Geomancer

And here we are at the top: Geomancer.

Their geomancy spells are so strong that they’ll be the most requested (or most used job) in almost any party.

As a Geomancer build, you’d be capable of reducing enemies from lions to kittens.

And if you have the Idris ergon weapon, you’d basically increase your value twofold!

Suggested Geomancer Subjobs:

Red Mage: Most common subjob for this role. Its wide range of spells and traits cater to hybrid support and nuking nature of a geomancer.

White Mage: Access to lots of healing and status removal via –Na spells.