MMO the jobs

Before we talk about the possible jobs in Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft, lets look at the job "types". There are 4 main jobs in any mmo. Tank, DD, Healer, and support.

The Tank is there to take damage. Their job is to keep the attention of the mob (groups opponent). This is done through different abilities, damage output, healing, etc. The hardest part is being able to keep hate, even though other people in the group are doing the same types of things. It doesn't matter how my HP (health) or defense you have, if the mob isn't looking at you, its worthless.

The DD (damage dealer) job is to do damage. The more damage you do, the faster the mob dies. This is the type of job most people prefer. It puts out the big numbers for damage. If is the most basic job to play. If you have a good tank, you can go all out. Otherwise, the hardest part is limiting your damage output so you don't pull hate from the tank.

The healers job is to keep everyone alive. It is quite possibly the most annoying job. If you have a good tank, it is easy, because you just keep healing that person. But if the mob does AOE (area attack) or hate is bouncing around, you have more people to keep alive. But if you heal to much at once, you may take hate yourself (and healers are known for dying easily). You also must have the best MP (magic) management, so you don't run out mid battle, and let people die.

The support is one of the most benefical classes, and least thanked. Their job is to make the mob take more damage (lower mobs defence), debuf the mob (slow it down, hold it in place, etc), make the party do more damage (increase attack power), buff the party (speed it up, etc), and just about anything else. They can often help deal damage and are normally used as a backup healer also. But since they don't put out huge numbers like the DD, and they are not holding hate like the tank, or being forced to keep people alive like the healer, most people rarely even notice the support job. But if you suck at the support job, anything that goes wrong in the party will be your fault.

As far as playing the jobs properly, from easiest to hardest, it is DD, tank, healer, support. Most people say you NEED a tank, healer, and DD's to kill the mobs. But in all acutallity, a party of well played support jobs can kill just about anything, as long as there is not a time limit. This goes for just about all mmo's.

There is also the "hybrid" jobs. This is jobs that can do more then one of the above. Typically, you will get a tank/DD hybrid, or a support/healer hybrid. But just about any combination is possible. Most support jobs can actually work as a hybrid of all 4 jobs if geared and played properly.