GassyHaggis Conjurer is a bit dull at low levels (basically spamming stone and aero a lot) but turns Into white mage at 30, which is probably the best healing job and loads of fun to play, assuming you like healing. You can play all the jobs in the game on one character though and can switch between them any time you like, so if you don’t get on with healing you can just level something else. Ninja is the closest to the sneaky stabby WoW rogue archetype. Starts out as thief.
The gamepad controls do feel a bit awkward at first but they work extremely well once you get used to them. You can also use mouse & keyboard on console if you prefer. I’ll post some pics of my UI and some handy macros that I use later. There’s a lot of hidden shortcuts when playing on a pad that make it much easier but the game unfortunately doesn’t do a great job of teaching them. One very useful one for healing - up and down on the dpad will target the other members of your party when you’re in one. If you select your tank then double click on him/her, you’ll hard target (lock on) to them. You can then use up/down on dpad to soft target other party members for heals as needed, and once the spell has finished casting, you’ll automatically go back to targeting the tank. There’s tons of stuff like this that isn’t obvious.
If you decide to stick with pad controls, hook up a USB/Bluetooth keyboard as well. You’ll want one for party chat, typing with the pad is painful and slow.
The MSQ (main story quest) is generally very good - there’s a slow patch at the end of A Realm Reborn which drags, but if you push past that you get to Heavensward and it’s good to great from then on. The most recent expansion in particular is fantastic.
You’ll need to do some group content from around level 18 as part of the MSQ. The game will provide matchmaking for this. Early on it’s pretty easy, and the majority of players are surprisingly (for an MMO crowd) friendly and helpful. It’s worth mentioning in party chat at the start of a dungeon if it’s your first time, most players will offer some tips or advice if needed.
At level 20 (I think), you’ll get a chocobo. This is your first mount and it can also fight alongside you when you’re out doing solo stuff. There’s three talent trees available to your chocobo as it levels up. I’d suggest putting all your points into the healing tree, the others aren’t all that great. You can respec it if needed either way.
I’ll stop now as I appear to have written a book already - sorry, I really like FFXIV 🙂 Feel free to ask if you’ve got any questions. I’ll try to post some UI stuff later, that’s another rabbit hole entirely.
