Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn – What’s the Best Way to Play in Parties?

Find out how you should handle party roles in this MMORPG.

One of the main selling points of a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is the fact that you play together with a large group of people. However, that also means you rely on other people to perform well more often than not. Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn is no different in that there are many instances throughout the game in which you must rely on the competency of your fellow player. Unfortunately, when it comes to partying, many people don’t seem to know what their roles are. This article offers a look at each party role and how you should play your job in a party environment.

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Tank
Classes: Gladiator, Marauder
Jobs: Paladin, Warrior

As the tank, your one and only job is to keep all of the enemies (mobs) attention on you and no one else in the party. You are in charge of pulling all mobs and making sure they continue to attack you and only you. There are times when two tanks are necessary, at which point it may be beneficial for a tank to inflict damage as well. However, even in these instances, you are still required to maintain hate control when needed.

The most common mistake a tank makes is pulling with Provoke. Provoke is a tool that allows you to take hate from another party member. It should not be used unless another party member has taken hate from you. You should pull with Shield Lob or Tomahawk, depending on your class. Both of these skills generate enmity, while doubling as a ranged attack. Provoke does not generate enmity unless you are not at the top of the hate chart.

Healer
Class: Conjurer
Jobs: Scholar, White Mage

As a healer, your primary job is to keep the rest of the party alive. If a party member dies, more often than not it was the healer’s fault. Now, the party member may have been foolishly attacking the wrong mob, or even got hit so hard they died after a single attack, but more often than not, the party member could have been saved with better healing. Even if a party member dies ,the healer should be immediately ready to raise or resurrect the fallen party member (unless there’s a Summoner available to do it). As soon as they’re back up, hit them with Protect and Stoneskin to make sure they have maximum defense in their weakened state. As a Scholar, you should level Conjurer to at least 34 to obtain Stoneskin and Cleric Stance as they are valuable tools for any healer.

A common problem with healers is that they want to be damage dealers. Luckily, FF14 gives healers enough tools to inflict a good amount of damage. However, do not become a DPS class in light of your healing duties. You are a healer first and foremost. If you want to damage a mob, play a different class. Now, if you can keep the party healed while also inflicting damage, good for you. However, most people are not skilled enough to pull this off.

Support
Job: Bard

While there are no dedicated support jobs in FF14, the Bard is the closest thing to it. Bards are one of the best DPS jobs in the game, but they also have the ability to replenish MP or TP, increase the potency of elemental attacks and even increase movement speed. These tasks are a Bard’s primary duty. Inflicting damage is secondary if one of these abilities is needed. Watching MP bars for the healers (and tanks) is relatively easy, but knowing when to use Army’s Paeon for TP is more difficult. This should be based on the length of the current battle and the Bard’s own TP. If your TP is getting low, chances are the Monk’s TP is getting low as well. Likewise, if you have a Black Mage in the party, use Foe Requiem to boost their elemental damage. Mages should not have to ask for Mage’s Ballad, and Black Mages should not have to ask for Fore Requiem.

Damage Dealer (DPS)
Classes: Arcanist, Archer, Lancer, Pugilist, Thaumaturge
Jobs: Summoner, Dragoon, Monk, Black Mage

As a DPS class or job, you have it easy. Your only task is to dish out as much damage as possible and kill the enemy as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, many DPS players get lazy and do not perform their job well. Check the other DPS classes in your party. If they aren’t as well geared as you are, you should be higher on the hate chart (the numbers next to your name in the party list). If you are better geared but another DPS is higher than you, then you probably have a poor rotation.

There are a few important tips to note for DPS players that will help you with better rotations. First, do not use your cool downs (skills with lengthy down times) if there’s only one enemy left and it’s almost dead. Likewise, do not use damage over time (DoT) skills when an enemy is almost dead. It’s a waste in both situations. Cool downs should be used at the start of a battle, preferably when there are two or three enemies to face. This is more important as you get higher in level because enemies die faster. In some cases, using a cool down when an enemy is at 50 percent health means there will be 10 seconds left on that cool down when the enemy dies. When most cool downs don’t last more than 20 or 30 seconds, that’s a huge waste.

Also, help the tank out as much as you can. While it feels good to steal hate from a tank, you’re not helping anyone by doing this. If the tank is numbering mobs, attack the mobs in the correct order. This makes it easier for the tank to hold hate. If an enemy is attacking you, run over to the tank so it’s easier for the tank to pull the mob off of you. Running away doesn’t help anyone. Lastly, if you have hate on a mob that is nowhere near dead, stop attacking the enemy. The longer you attack it, the harder it will be for the tank to pull the enemy off of you.


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Author
Bryan Dawson
Bryan Dawson has an extensive background in the gaming industry, having worked as a journalist for various publications for nearly 20 years and participating in a multitude of competitive fighting game events. He has authored over a dozen strategy guides for Prima Games, worked as a consultant on numerous gaming-related TV and web shows and was the Operations Manager for the fighting game division of the IGN Pro League.