XIV Job DefenseLoading...
XIV Job Defense Strategy Guide
This page collects the data for every job, enemy, and limit break, plus practical tactics. All numbers come from the live game data. DPS/HPS is the basic attack (or heal) rate only — cleaves, iaijutsu, jumps and other traits are not included.
Jobs (level 1 → 5)
| Job | Role | Cost | HP (Lv1→5) | DPS / HPS (Lv1→5) | Traits & abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paladin | Tank | 90 | 420 → 1280 | 12.5 → 60 | Bulwark (permanent 20% damage cut) / Guardian aura (allies within 110px take 10% less) / Clemency (heals an ally below 50% HP at 3x power every 8s) / Cover (manual permanent link) / Invincible (8s immunity below 25% HP, 90s CD) / Rampart (shared) |
| Warrior | Tank | 90 | 400 → 1220 | 13.2 → 60.6 | All attacks cleave (48px radius) / self-heals 35% of damage per enemy hit / Holmgang (lethal-save at 1 HP for 5s, 40s CD) / Rampart (shared) |
| Dark Knight | Tank | 95 | 410 → 1250 | 15.9 → 77.1 | Cleave (hits all enemies within 40px of target) / Living Shadow (every 12s, summons a clone to a nearby empty cell that fights at ~50% power for 11s, attacker) / TBN (shields a dying ally, 15s CD) / Living Dead (8s undeath on lethal, 80s CD) / Rampart (shared) |
| Gunbreaker | Tank | 100 | 360 → 1080 | 21.5 → 107.1 | Soil (1 per 30% max HP taken, max 3; below 50% HP spends all for 10% mitigation per soil 8s + a blast at 2x per soil) / Superbolide (lethal-save, 30s CD) / Rampart (shared) |
| White Mage | Healer | 100 | 190 → 520 | 21.7 → 100 | Every 4th heal is AoE / Misery (charged 5x AoE blast) / Benediction (full heal below 25% HP, 60s CD) / Swiftcast Raise (instant revive, 120s CD, shared by all healers) |
| Scholar | Healer | 110 | 190 → 520 | 18.3 → 85 | Heals grant a shield (50%) / placeable fairy (regen aura) / Fey Wind (AoE haste, 45s CD) / Bio (area DoT on a cluster every 10s, lasts 30s) / Swiftcast Raise (shared) |
| Astrologian | Healer | 105 | 185 → 510 | 17.4 → 79.6 | Cards (every 5s: +25% attack, speed or range to one ally for 5s, at random) / healed allies gain haste / Gravity (AoE heavy, 9s CD) / Swiftcast Raise (shared) |
| Sage | Healer | 115 | 190 → 520 | 19.1 → 88.8 | Kardia (manually link an ally — permanent, switchable; every landed attack heals + shields them) / periodic group barrier every 12s / Swiftcast Raise (shared) |
| Monk | DPS | 100 | 250 → 720 | 32.9 → 163.3 | +7% attack speed per hit (max 5) / Phantom Rush (8 killing blows: next attack hits 45px AoE at 6x, piercing) |
| Dragoon | DPS | 110 | 270 → 770 | 26.3 → 122.9 | Jump (every 12s: unlimited-range 8x armor-piercing strike). Every 3rd jump is Stardiver: 60px AoE at a further 1.5x |
| Samurai | DPS | 115 | 260 → 750 | 29.3 → 145.3 | Iaijutsu (5s CD, cycling forms): Higanbana DoT (80% / 4s) → Tenka Goken 1.5x self-AoE (55px) → Midare Setsugekka 3x single |
| Ninja | DPS | 110 | 220 → 640 | 17.6 → 86.2 | Ninjutsu (7s CD): Trick Attack (+5% damage taken on bosses, used first) → Katon (1.6x AoE) → Doton (5s damage zone) → Raiton (chain lightning up to 5 targets, 0.75 falloff) |
| Reaper | DPS | 120 | 280 → 800 | 22.4 → 108.1 | Attacks cleave 42px / Enshroud (16s CD: 6s of 64px cleave + heavy aura, ends in a 2.5x burst) / Portal (free, manual) |
| Viper | DPS | 115 | 260 → 750 | 29.2 → 138.1 | Reawakening (every 10s: 4s of 1.5x AoE strikes) |
| Bard | DPS | 110 | 180 → 500 | 21.4 → 101.7 | Venomous arrows (attacks apply a permanent DoT at 30% power/s) / song aura: +10%+ damage to allies within 110px |
| Machinist | DPS | 120 | 190 → 560 | 19.4 → 93.5 | Drill (every 8s: 4x armor-piercing shot at the toughest enemy) / turret (manual, movable, 50% power) |
| Dancer | DPS | 115 | 210 → 620 | 20 → 100 | Dance (every 9s: 1.6x in 70px around self) / Closed Position (+18%+ damage to a linked ally) |
| Black Mage | DPS | 120 | 170 → 460 | 13.4 → 64.2 | Alternates Fire (AoE) and Blizzard (weak AoE + heavy) / Thunder (AoE DoT every 10s) |
| Summoner | DPS | 125 | 190 → 560 | 17.8 → 88.5 | Carbuncle (manual placement, 70% power) / Bahamut (every 20s: 6s of 1.8x AoE pet attacks) / Swiftcast Raise (instant revive, 120s CD) |
| Red Mage | DPS | 115 | 220 → 640 | 22.4 → 113.8 | Dualcast (1.5x melee combo + 0.7x far zap) / Vercure (heals every 8s) / Dualcast Raise (instant revive, level uses per wave; 10s stun + halved damage for the wave) |
| Pictomancer | DPS | 130 | 180 → 530 | 19.3 → 91.5 | Every cast splashes 55px with heavy charged hits / Line Stroke (10s CD: 2.2x to everything in a 345px line) |
| Gatherer | Gatherer | 500 | 100 → 100 | 0.3 → 1.3 | +2–8 gil per 5 kills, +1 material per 35 kills / stealth / max 2 placed / appears as a random Miner or Botanist |
| Fisher | Gatherer | 500 | 100 → 100 | 0.7 → 2.5 | +4–15 gil per 5 kills (about twice the gatherer) / stealth / no materials / max 1 placed |
| Crafter | Crafter | 500 | 100 → 100 | 0 → 0 | Crafts 1 gear from 3 materials (faster with levels) / gear gives a combat job +8% power & HP (max 3) / appears as one of 6 crafting classes |
| Alchemist | Crafter | 500 | 100 → 100 | 2 → 7.5 | Potion (manual, 40s recast): heals every unit + attack buff for 5s; quality scales with level (12-45 heal, 1.1-1.3x) / stealth / max 1 placed |
| Culinarian | Crafter | 500 | 100 → 100 | 0 → 0 | While placed, every combat unit gains +1% power per level (up to +5%) / stealth / max 1 placed |
Enemies
| Enemy | Speed | Base HP | Trait |
|---|---|---|---|
 Runner | 95 | 28 | Fast, low HP |
 Grunt | 60 | 55 | Standard |
 Tank | 38 | 170 | Carapace: ranged -50%, magic +25% |
 Swift | 130 | 40 | Winged: melee -25%, ranged +50% / 50% slow resistance |
 Regen | 55 | 90 | Slime: physical -40%, magic +50% / heals 6 HP/s |
 Shield | 55 | 70 | Shieldbearer: ranged -60%, melee +25% / shield 60 |
 Splitter | 65 | 80 | Splits into 2 minis on death / magic +25% |
 Mini | 90 | 25 | Small split spawn |
 Ghost | 70 | 60 | Incorporeal: physical -50%, magic +50% (AoE halved) / ignores hate |
 Berserker | 50 | 110 | Magic -25%, ranged +25% / speeds up as HP drops (up to +90%) |
 Elite | 42 | 420 | AoE damage -60%, 50% slow resistance / high HP, few spawns (wave 13+). Bring single-target damage; costs 2 lives |
 Boss | 30 | 1440 | All damage -30%, 50% slow resistance, costs 3 lives |
Limit Breaks
| Command | Effect | Recast |
|---|---|---|
| 🛡️ Shield Wall → Stronghold → Last Bastion | Party-wide mitigation. LB1: 25%/20s, LB2: 45%/30s, LB3 Last Bastion: 65%/45s | LB1–LB3 |
| 🌿 Healing Wind → Breath of the Earth → Pulse of Life | Party heal. LB1: 50%, LB2: full, LB3 Pulse of Life: full heal + revive everyone | LB1–LB3 |
| ⚔️ Braver → Bladedance → Final Heaven | Armor-piercing strike on the toughest enemy. LB2 Bladedance and LB3 Final Heaven hit far harder | LB1–LB3 |
| ☄️ Skyshard → Starstorm → Meteor | Aimed bombardment whose radius and damage grow with LB level (80→105→130px) | LB1–LB3 |
Strategy
Early game (waves 1–9)
Setup time is unlimited until you press Start, so build a calm opening squad: a Paladin by the path with a Monk and White Mage behind. Enemies only slow down while hitting the Paladin, giving your DPS time to work. Call waves early whenever your defense is comfortable; the bonus gil compounds. Enemy tanks appear at wave 4 and pass-through Swifts at wave 6.
Mid game (waves 10–25) and bosses
Every 10th wave brings a boss with a punishing AoE attack — spread your front line so one swing cannot wipe it, tank the boss, and burn it with Dragoon Jumps and Black Mage casts. Shield enemies arrive at wave 12, Splitters at 15, and hate-blind Ghosts at 18; park a spare tank (or a covering Paladin) near your back line for those.
Late game (waves 26–40)
Enemy HP grows quadratically, so pushing existing jobs to Lv5 beats placing new ones late. The ideal setup is one or two kill zones: two tanks hold the line, Blizzard slows the crowd, Fire and Monks grind it down, and Jumps finish the big targets. Put a Bard in the middle and a Scholar fairy at the tanks’ feet. One Bard per zone is enough since songs do not stack.
Commands and specialist jobs
The LB gauge gains 1 per 3 cleared waves (max 3). Decide between cycling cheap Shield Walls or saving 3 bars for Meteor. Healing Wind rescues a collapsing line, Braver shreds bosses. Place the Scholar fairy where enemies actually stop (at your tank) so its regen is never wasted. Against hate-blind Ghosts, keep a spare tank near your back line or trust the Paladin cover. Downed units revive faster while healers and the fairy keep healing them.
Exploit damage types
Every attack is melee, magic or ranged, and every enemy resists or fears one of them. Carapace tanks and shieldbearers shrug off arrows — bring blades or spells. Slimes and ghosts halve physical damage, so burn them with casters (Black Mage, Pictomancer, Summoner, Sage). Winged swifts and berserkers fall fast to ranged fire (Bard, Machinist, Ninja, Dancer). The Machinist drill, Dragoon Jump and the melee limit break pierce resistances entirely — save them for bosses.
Targeting priorities
The default "First" targeting works for DPS, but tuning it matters: set Black Mage to "Strongest" to bomb the heart of the pack, finishers to "Weakest" to secure kills, and lanes leaking pass-through Runners to "First".
Endless mode
From wave 41, enemy HP gains an extra ×1.08 multiplier every wave, so any defense eventually breaks. Enrage (enemies hit harder the longer they fight) melts tanks first, so healer count and fairy placement decide your record. Boss waves beyond 40 spawn several bosses — keep multiple Dragoons.
Strategy FAQ
- Do multiple Bards stack? No. Each job only receives the single strongest song in range. Spread Bards across different clusters instead.
- Do poison and slow effects stack? The stronger effect of each type wins and its duration is refreshed. A weak effect never downgrades a strong one.
- How do I earn 3 stars? Finish all 40 waves with 18 or more lives (you can lose at most 2). Ten or more lives earns 2 stars, and surviving at all earns 1 star.
- Which map should I start with? Circuit — it has a long path and plenty of build space. Save Gauntlet for last: its path is extremely short and punishes any wasted gil.