Final Fantasy XIV: Dawn Treader continues the longstanding tradition of introducing multiple new jobs (usually two per expansion except Heaven) for players to check. In the case of the fifth expansion, the new FFXIV The jobs are Pictomancer and Viper. While they are certainly different, if I had to choose a better job, I would always choose Pictomancer.
To be clear, both jobs are actually quite good and fill some necessary needs in FFXIV. But I understand that not every player wants to spend the time to level up both professions to 20+ levels each (40 levels total) to reach max level. Plus, that doesn’t take into account the time it takes to master each profession, which is a daunting task since they start at level 80. With that in mind, if I had to choose one of these new professions FFXIV As for the job to recommend to most players, I would choose Pictomancer. I believe it is a better job and a bit stronger.
To be clear, I started as an Arcanist and eventually a main Summoner/Scholar in this game when it first came out, but my secondary class for the longest time was Ninja. So there are some intriguing parallels between Pictomancer and Viper for me. The former is the newest ranged magic DPS class. Meanwhile, Viper is Ninja’s long-awaited armored companion and dual-wielder. Both classes also have some similarities to existing classes, so they’re pretty evenly matched in that regard.
So Pictomancer beats Viper by a wide margin because it stands out so much more. I would describe Pictomancer as an interesting mix of Black Mage and Ninja in some ways, from an artistic standpoint. It has the usual elemental magic that Black Mage has and some similar spells, but it also has a drawing frame. This reminds me of Ninja in a way. You can line up spells and cast them in a certain order. These will result in different moves along the way.
On the other hand, Viper is similar to Ninja. It is a dual-wielding weapon user and it also focuses a lot on combos. The difference is that it relies on also much about combos. It’s unbelievable how many different combo options exist with Viper. There are many different branching options depending on the scenario and skills constantly morph into other skills.
If you don’t like combos, Viper is definitely not the right choice. FFXIV job for you. Also, it can be a little overwhelming at first. But the main problem with Viper comes when you actually learn it. I find that Viper becomes a little boring and almost too repetitive once you get used to the role. Meanwhile, Pictomancer never stops being fun with instant withdrawals out of combat and powering up the party.
Overall, I’d almost say Viper is a bit monotonous. However, the variety in combos leads to some of the best visual effects for a job. I’d even say it’s probably the flashiest job in the game right now. But it doesn’t stand out as much as it could, nor is it as necessary in the meta as Pictomancer.
If you are a skilled Pictomancer, you can almost do too much damage in FFXIV these days. There are times when I’ve pulled full stacks and seen others pull aggro from a skilled tank, not an amateur, especially in lower tier content. Any other job and that wouldn’t happen. In addition to damage, Pictomancer also has some great late game buffs with Starry Muse and Tempera Grassa. It’s not quite the true support job combination I was hoping for, but it’s close.
In the end, both Viper and Pictomancer did an excellent job. additional IN FFXIV Dawn Trail. That said, if I had to recommend a “better” class, I’d go with Pictomancer. It’s not as monotonous as Viper, while also filling a nice niche in the meta. I expect Pictomancer to only become more popular and successful over time, barring any nerfs, so if you’re looking for a new class to spend your time on, this is what I’d recommend.
Final Fantasy XIV: Dawn Treader Now available for PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and computer.
