FFXIV Best Solo Class: Top 5 Classes Ranked

MMORPG games always have a vast roster of classes to play in various content. Such variety leads to class balance which in some cases favors one group over the other. FFXIV has a whole bunch of fun jobs to play as, and some of them are a perfect fit for solo content. Welcome to our guide on the FFXIV Best Solo Class.

Why Do You Need To Solo In FFXIV?

The main element that determines whether a job is good for soloing content is how well it is in terms of design and how it functions overall. The damage output, the way it sustains itself in battle via self-healing, the job’s ability to mitigate incoming damage. All of this factors into it. With this in mind, there are times when you just can’t help but run content alone. While there can be many reasons such as efficiency, not all jobs are able to solo content with relative ease.

Best Solo Jobs In FFXIV

FFXIV offers a variety of such jobs, and we will go over some of the most potent jobs available.

Warrior

The Warrior is a Tank job in FFXIV. Introduced in 2.0 A Realm Reborn, it starts out as Marauder at Level 1 and changes into Warrior at Level 30. Warrior has come a long way since its release. Once being one of the most unplayable jobs in the game, it is now one of the best, if not the best.

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As a Tank, Warrior has solid defensive cooldowns, excellent self-healing capabilities, and great damage output, although you could argue that it needs a few buffs in that department. While the jobs in FFXIV are divided into three roles, with each one sharing its role-specific actions, each job has an arsenal of specialized skills. We’ll go over some of the skills that add to Warrior’s credibility as an excellent pick for soloing content.

Equilibrium

This skill has been around for a long time, ever since Heavensward. Unlocked at Level 58, Equilibrium has a healing potency of 1200. As of Endwalker, it also provides a heal-over-time effect which adds to Warrior’s self-sustainability. Do keep in mind that any content that syncs you down to a lower level will void these current improvements.

Along with its high potency and HoT effect, another factor that makes it a great skill is its 60-second recast. With such a short cooldown time combined with other self-healing skills that Warrior has, the cohesive nature of it all just makes you feel super safe and invincible. Equilibrium’s strength can also be increased by using another skill beforehand, which is also the next up in our FFXIV Best Solo Class guide.

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Thrill Of Battle

This action increases your maximum HP for a set duration and buffs the health recovery via healing actions on yourself by 20%. It also ‘plays into buffing Equilibrium’s effectiveness. The Thrill of Battle is one of the three skills that improve the effectiveness of a Warrior’s party-wide defensive action.

Bloodwhetting

The improved version of Raw Intuition, Bloodwhetting, is one of, if not the most important and stacked ability in Warrior’s arsenal. Each buff lasts a set duration and has its own effect, granting three buffs to self. This one action alone gives you 20% damage mitigation, self-healing with a potency of 400 and a barrier equivalent to that same value.

Having a recast of 25 seconds, Bloodwhetting is definitely the best thing that’s happened to Warrior in Endwalker alongside Holmgang, which was buffed to 10 seconds.

Overall, Warrior’s self-healing kit combined with its current offensive arsenal makes it one of the best options to solo content with.

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Gunbreaker

As of Endwalker, Gunbreaker has received a lot of new additions. The most notable is the upgrade to its Heart of Stone skill, which puts it up there with Warrior. Gunbreaker is a Tank job, but it focuses on two aspects – Tanking and DPS. 

Having a DPS-focused rotation that doesn’t mesh well with its tanking responsibilities makes it a bit of a complicated mess. However, as an option for soloing content, Gunbreaker is something you should consider.

Heart of Corundum

The upgraded version of Heart of Stone and unlocked at Level 82. Heart of Corundum, like Bloodwhetting, grants you three buffs. These buffs add up to provide 30% damage mitigation and a self-heal with a potency of 900 if your HP falls below a certain threshold. This skill can also be used when targeting a party member and can transfer one of your other buffs – Brutal Shell to the targeted party member.

Having a recast of 25 seconds, Gunbreaker’s Heart of Corundum is a solid asset that can help in several different scenarios and encounters.

Aurora

There isn’t much to say about this skill, but Aurora basically provides you with a heal-over-time effect. This action has two charges as of Endwalker’s release and lasts for 18 seconds. Combining this with Heart of Corundum gives your self-healing kit a major buff.

Gunbreaker has several strong mitigative cooldown actions which mesh well with its healing capabilities. All of this and its damage output make it a solid option to use for soloing content. Even at level 70 in Eureka, Gunbreaker feels right at home, although some argue that Warrior wins that one. Mainly in part due to the rework of Raw Intuition.

Paladin

Like Warrior, Paladin has been around since 2.0 A Realm Reborn. A significant part of the player base loves the job. The job’s repertoire is on par with the other two tanks mentioned in our FFXIV Best Solo Class guide.

Clemency

This skill is one of the most impressive single-target heals amongst all four tanks in the game. Unlike Warrior’s Equilibrium, Clemency does not have a dedicated recast timer and is part of the GCD. While it uses 2000 Mana, it’s still a big save in situations where your healer is underperforming. Furthermore, using Requiescat will allow you to cast it instantly, although if you want to do proper damage, you’d want to avoid that.

Sentinel

A strong personal cooldown that mitigates incoming damage by 30% with a recast of 120 seconds. Having strong cooldowns serves as a plus factor in making the job viable for soloing content. The duration of this skill is 15 seconds and combining this with the rest of Paladin’s kit makes the job an option you should really consider choosing.

Hallowed Ground

A bittersweet ability considering that it makes you impervious to damage for 10 seconds with the tradeoff of 420 seconds recast. The sheer value of that cooldown makes you wonder if it’s good or bad. Nevertheless, it has its uses and definitely comes in handy. A strong addition that cements Paladin’s entry in the race of FFXIV Best Solo Class.

There’s not a lot to say for Paladin other than the fact that it’s a really solid option for soloing content, mainly because of its GCD healing skill and solid defensives. While it may lack in DPS compared to other Tanks, it can still perfectly solo content.

Red Mage

Out of all the Caster DPS jobs, Red Mage offers the most balanced in terms of damage and utility. Being one of the two DPS jobs that can raise incapacitated party members and heal themselves with a GCD action, Red Mage is a go-to choice for anyone who wants to solo content but is averse to tanking. 

Vercure

A single target skill capable of healing your HP with a potency of 350. It’s quite self-explanatory that Vercure can be used in a variety of situations to support not only the party but also yourself when you’re out soloing content. Unlocked at Level 54, it can be useful in content such as Palace of The Dead, Eureka, Bozja, and Heaven-on-High.

Displacement

This skill doesn’t add to the job’s self-sustainability, but it’s mentioned here due to its utility. Displacement deals damage to the enemy while also putting some distance between you and them. An evasive skill of such nature comes in handy during situations where you’d be incapacitated in a couple of hits.

Verraise

Red Mage has the added benefit of being one of the only two DPS jobs able to raise incapacitated party members. It won’t be of much use when you’re soloing content, but there are still scenarios where it can be used.

Having its signature dual-casting abilities, Red Mage is a friendly job capable of great damage, utility, and self-sustainability. If you are not keen on tanking and still want to attempt solo content, Red Mage is the way to go.

Sage

One of the new healers added to the game, Sage, has a pretty solid standing in our FFXIV Best Solo Class guide. This is mainly due to how the job plays overall. It’s grounded in the idea of passive healing and mitigation. Sage’s passive healing works via one of its skills called-

Kardia

By giving yourself and a target party member a buff, each spell you use will heal the target member for a portion of the damage dealt. This passive healing can be enhanced further by using another skill called Soteira. The healing combined with its barrier mitigation makes it one of the best solo jobs in the game from the Healer category.

Haima

A barrier action with delayed healing. Haima is given to you when the job is unlocked and has a recast of 120 seconds. The action puts a barrier on you and has a store of 5 stacks. Those stacks are used to replenish your mitigative barrier. Once the timer expires, the remaining stacks are consumed to restore your HP. Each stack has a potency of 150.

Sage has a lot more in its arsenal, but the basics of this job make it an excellent option for soloing content if you enjoy playing as healers. The job requires a certain level of understanding and skill to be rewarding, but it gives high returns should you play it right.

Eureka And Bozja

Next up in our FFXIV Best Solo Class guide, we’ll go over Eureka and Bozja. All jobs in this game have the capacity to solo these two modes to a degree. However, the jobs listed in this guide have the edge over the rest. 

In Eureka, once you reach the third zone – Pyros, the game changes, and you’re able to use Logograms to gain Logos Actions. These are powerful, duty-exclusive skills that you can use to boost your performance in Eureka. Keep in mind that Logos Action can only be used in Pyros and Hydatos – the final zone of Eureka.

There are many actions available, allowing you to mix and match to create a build that fits your playstyle. Adding these to the jobs listed above makes you borderline immortal in Eureka. For example, Warrior with Bloodbath L and Wisdom of The Martialist is just unbeatable.

The same logic applies to Bozja, where you have essences and Lost Actions to use. They function much like the Logos Actions, but there’s a bit more variety here due to the addition of essences. Once you reach Mettle Rank 25 and complete a certain quest, you’ll be able to earn Rays which allows you to trade earned Mettle for bonuses to HP, damage dealt, and Healing Potency.

As stated earlier, almost any job can solo these two modes, but some have the edge over the rest. The jobs stated here won’t exactly disappoint, but effectiveness will vary depending on player skill and knowledge.

Extreme Primals – ARR, Heavensward And Stormblood

To keep it brief: any job can solo ARR extreme primals. A job at level 70 with the Augmented Scaevan gearset can simply go in and nuke the Level 50 extreme bosses. Mechanics will be of no concern; however, some might require a high DPS output to be skipped. The Navel (Extreme) has a mechanic where Titan locks you up in a Gaol. If you’re soloing this fight, you need to burst him fast enough to avoid it, or it can get a bit messy.

While the gearsets at Level 70 and beyond help, you should know that the game grants you The Echo. As of Endwalker, The Echo has been upgraded in relation to the downscaled values. It’s now called The Epic Echo, and the effect increases your stats substantially. 

Even though all this is really great, Heavensward Primals are still a bit technical. It’s possible to solo them even as a DPS, but you’d have to be aware of certain mechanics and attacks. For example, The Minstrel’s Ballad: Nidhogg’s Rage has the stack mechanic – Akh Morn. This attack is still capable of dealing serious damage and if you’re not alert to other mechanics, being incapacitated is inevitable. That said, any job is capable of soloing these primals, though it may prove to be challenging at Level 70 considering that The Epic Echo scales.

Stormblood Primals are an entirely different ballgame in FFXIV. Soloing some of them is possible, but there are fights where specific mechanics make it a futile exercise. The Pool of Tribute is an excellent example. The Active Time maneuver requires you to hold off Susano’s blade while the party deals damage to it and soaks the orbs. This mechanic is something you can’t avoid, and soloing is impossible due to how it works. 

Final Verdict

Even if a job is excellent for soloing content, you can’t do it in every fight as certain mechanics are designed around cooperative play. And after all that, you also have to think about tank busters if you are not a tank. All these things come together, so planning is required regardless of the job you pick.

This brings us to the end of our FFXIV Best Solo Class guide. While it wasn’t a tier list, our goal was to point out the strengths of these jobs and how it allows them to tackle content solo. 
Our personal pick is Warrior due to its design and overall function but people may find Red Mage or Sage more to their liking. Be sure to try them out and enjoy your time with the game! 

Next: FFXIV Eureka Leveling Guide