Job/Class Ranking

[DjinnAndTonic]

This is just something I had been thinking about for a while. Just sort of curious which Job/Class Archetypes were the most popular among DL members.

Just a ranking topic, really. I tried to include as many Job/Class Archetypes as I could, but this is by no means an all-inclusive list, so feel free to add more or to rearrange examples into a more fitting/intuitive list.

Basically, rank each archetype on a scale of ten based on how useful the class generally is and how much it appeals to your personal style of gameplay.

I gave as many examples of a class archetype as I could think of, but they are mostly there to give an idea of what I'm referring to with the archetype name, not neccessarily what you should base your ranking on.

Knight (FF1, FFs Paladin, DQs, FE Armors, VP Greatswordsmen, WAXF Sentinel)

Swordsman (FE Myrmidon, Tales mains, Dis Sword-users, VP Light Swordsmen))

Magic Fighter (FFs Red Mage, Dis Rune Knight, Tales Magic Swordsman, DQs)

Lancer (FFs Dragoon, FEs, WAXF Halberdier, VP Lancers/Hrist)

Cavalry (FE Cavalier/PegKnight, SF Centaur)

Axe Fighter (FEs, Dis Axe-users, WAXF Secutor)

Berserker (FFs, FEs, Dis, WAXF)

Monk (FFs, Dis Brawler, Tales ‘Fighter’ class [Senel], SF Monk, WAXF Grappler)

Ninja (FFs, Dis, OB)

Rogue (FFs Thief, Dis Thief, FEs Thief, DQs Thief)

Archer (FFs, FEs, Dis, SF, Tales, VPs)

Gunner (FFTs, Dis, WAXF Dandelion Shot, SOs Opera/Maria, SaGaF Gun-users)

Chemist (FFTs, WAXF Gadgeteer, AI Alchemists)

Cleric (FFs White Mage, FEs, Dis Healer, WAXF Sacred Slayer, SF Vicar, Tales Healer, DQs)

Elementalist (WAXF, FFTA, FEs Anima Mages, SF Mages, Dis Mages, Tales Mage, OB Mage, FFs Black Mage/Sword Mage)

Dark Mage (FEs Shaman, FFs Black Mage/ Dark Knight, Suikos Dark Rune-users, OB Lich)

Status Mage (FF Oracle/Time Mage, WAXF Fantastica, Dis Archers, G2 Millenia, SaGa TimeLord)

Summoner (FFs, WA4 Yulie, Suiko Pale Gate Rune-users)

Sage (FFs, FEs, Tales, DQs, SaGa Blue – Basically, can use all/most magic, but always frail/slow)

Morpher (FF6 Terra, FF7 Vincent, SHs Harmonixers, SO1 T’Nique, Suiko Bob/Ernst, SaGa Red/Monster, OB Werewolf)

Bard/Dancer (FEs, FFTs, FF3/5/X2, S3 Jongleur Rune-user, DQs Bard/Dancer/Joker)

Geomancer (FFs, WAXF, WA4 Jude, TotA FOF effects)

Blue Mage (FFs, WAXF Emulator, SaGas Monster/Mutant/Mystic)

Mime (FFs)

Dragon (FFT Reis, FE Manakete, Dis, OB, Brig, DQs, SaGa, SF Bleu)


Shorter form:
Knight
Swordsman
Magic Fighter
Lancer
Cavalry
Axe Fighter
Berserker
Monk
Ninja
Rogue
Archer
Gunner
Chemist
Cleric
Elementalist
Dark Mage
Status Mage
Summoner
Sage
Morpher
Bard/Dancer
Geomancer
Blue Mage
Mime
Dragon

[OblivionKnight]

As always, I put the disclaimer that I value character worth and coolness way over utility.

Knight - 4/10.  Knight itself tends to be very...eh.  Really depends on the character, and the skillset.  But that goes for anyone here!  Anyway, typically a front-line tank/fighter.  Sometimes has skills.  Bores me to tears, and 9/10, the character does too.

Swordsman - 7/10.  Better than the knight, because they tend to be speedier!  And have more unique abilities.  Granted, they can have shitastic characters (Alicia!), but then they have awesome ones to make up for it, so...decent overall.

Magic Fighter - 8/10.  Generally pretty cool.  Except in the case of Red Mages from FF.  Most other games they tend to be interesting characters, and generally are cool for being able to do a bit of everything.  Generally have neato weapons too.  Usually men, though.

Lancer - 7/10.  I love lances.  Probably my second favourite weapon.  Polearms are hot.  Especially on women.  Anyway...these run the gamut from boring as hell (FF dragoons) to freaking awesome (Nephenee).  Skills are sometimes limited, but otherwise...interesting enough.

Cavalry - 6/10.  Horsies!  Loses points for not always being as good as they should be, or being so goddamned stupid in practice.  But hey, especially cool with girls!  Speed should be the name of the game, and movement, and shock-and-awe.  Sadly, this is rarely if ever realized.  It makes me sad.  Not enough girls, either.

Axe Fighter - 2/10.  Boring as sin.  In nearly every way.

Berserker - 3/10.  Axe fighter that's slightly more amusing.

Monk - 5/10.  This varies...a lot.  Never enough girls are monks, which is  hit.  Also, generally, they're boring in the FF vein.  Honestly, my favourites are the ShF monks, since there's some hot girls there, and they have neato skillsets.  But the FF style is generally boring, and sadly, that's the majority.

Ninja - 5/10 worse than pirates lol.  Eh...I think they're overdone, particularly in the FF vein (gasp!  this will come up a lot).  Needs more weird tricks instead of being dual-wield shuriken throwers.

Rogue - 8/10.  Awwwww hell yes.  Usually spry and unique with lots of utility, which I like.  Also, generally have godlike RES.  Also gets some females here, which is niiiiiiiiiiiiice.  I loves me my utilities.

Archer - 10/10.  Archers are the best in the world. 

Gunner - 5/10.  Poor man's bow.  Wins these points for Maria, who is the best gunner ever.  Generally run the pattern of loner/cool person with a tragic past, which is boring after a while.  And rarely female. 

Chemist - 9/10.  I assume this is item-whore as well, which fits the description.  Anyway, awesome.  Usually are very unique, generally have unique character.  I liiiiiiiiiike pharmacy and compounding, so this is cool.

Cleric - 8/10.  Healers rock face.

Elementalist - 7/10.  Varies based on character, number of elements, and use.  Overall good - magic is badass.

Dark Mage - 7/10.  Extension of the above.

Status Mage - 9/10.  Gogo utility and coolness!  Yay Nash!

Summoner - 5/10.  Unfortunately, heavy on the FF here.  Summoners...really don't interest me much, although + for having some female representation.

Sage - 5/10.  Doing everything is stupid >_> 

Morpher - 7/10.  Widely variable, as noted with some others here.  Very variable, but usually cool.

Bard/Dancer - 9/10.  The power of music will kick your ass.

Geomancer - 6/10.  FFish again, but the concept is neat.

Blue Mage - 7/10.  FFish again, but the concept kicks enough ass.

Mime - 5/10.  FFish, but...well, ok >_>  Not much to say!

[DjinnAndTonic]

I guess I should go ahead and add my own thoughts to this.

Knight - 3/10 It's generally a fairly useful class and quite a few main characters fall into this, but it gets repetitive. I'm not usually a fan of the 'slow, stupid' trope that generally accompanies these characters either. Even worse is the perfect 'Knight in Shining Armor' class.

Swordsman - 6/10 A much bigger fan here. Faster is more fun than smash to me, so I enjoy these kinds of characters as mains. Generally.

Magic Fighter - 8/10 Most of my favorite mains fall into this category. I like Magic more than swords, but frail magic-users are a trope I'm almost as sick of as rescuing princesses.

Lancer - 6.5/10 I like Lances just a little more than swords. Only mains I can think of who fall into this category are Elc and Ephraim, and they're kind of stylish, and generally effective at least. Nephenee <3

Cavalry - 8/10 Big fan of the concept, but most of the characters are kind of bland. Luckily, I'm more concerned with the class than the characters.

Axe Fighter - 7/10 Axe-users always feel underrepresented to me, so I have soft spot for their class, though the characters themselves are often really bad. Also, the 'hard to argue with an axe to the face' meme...

Berserker - 2/10 Dwarves in FF3, Catgirls in FFX2... and no control in most other games. Not a fan of AI-controlled nonsense.

Monk - 2/10 Martial arts are cool in fighting games, but are generally lackluster in RPGs. Exceptions: LoL, Yuri physicals.

Ninja - 7/10 All of these points are for Disgaea Ninja love. Evade -everything-.

Rogue - 4/10 I used to be a really big fan of this class, but all its good stuff is done better by other archetypes. Character personality also ended up being far more repetitive than I would have expected.

Archer - 6/10 Soft spots for archers in general, but the only time the class really intriques me is when it doubles as the status-inflicting class (Disgaea, Wakka)

Gunner - 8/10 Guns are cool and have longer range than bows, so I almost always use Gunners over Archers when I get the option.

Chemist - 7/10 This class always seems broken, so it loses some points for balance-breaking. I like the concept in general though.

Cleric - 10/10 Though I hate the personalities of nearly every healer character ever, I love this kind of class intrinsically. Particularly when they have magical holy smash in addition to wielding the powers of life and death in their hands! Undead slaying is cool, Holy is cool, Healing forever is cool. Though I think the only healer-character I liked was Jessica de Alkirk.

Elementalist - 9/10 Elemental magic systems are another thing I intrinsically like about RPGs, so this class is cool to me. I particular like the ones that aren't frail mages, but focus on having methods of dealing elemental damage.

Dark Mage - 6/10 Less enthralled by the emo-stereotype I associate with this. Though, Canus is cool.

Status Mage - 6/10 I love these guys in the DL, but I generally don't care about them much in-game. This changes when Status Mage is a sub-class.

Summoner - 9/10 Summoning magical beasts fascinates me.

Sage - 1/10 Not a fan of frail/slow, even if they do everything.

Morpher - 8.5/10 Always interesting to see what they transform into. There's a feeling of 'two characters in one' that appeals to me, too. In the case of Harmonixers and BoF Ryus, it's more like '7 characters in one'.

Bard/Dancer - 7/10 Stylish, and in more recent games, actually useful as the best support characters.

Geomancer - 9/10 Generally useless in a DL setting, but I love the idea of a character class that interacts with its environment.

Blue Mage - 10/10 I've extolled on why I love Blue Mages before. I don't want to  be repetitive.

Mime - 3/10 Meh, kind of boring, though at least it's useful in-game most of the time.

Dragon - 6/10 Seems to be a class in more games than most of these archetypes, so I included it. Just another flavor of damage, and I'm not particularly drawn to its style. Especially limited in FEs.

-Djinn

[Talaysen]

Shorter form:
Knight - 6/10 - Needs more EO Protectors on the list.  PLAY ETRIAN ODYSSEY
Swordsman - 2/10 - Meh.
Magic Fighter - 3/10 - whatever hybrids
Lancer - 4/10 - Having 2 range is good I guess, but lancers tend to be lame anyways.  Except Nephenee and Marcia.  They rule.
Cavalry - 5/10 - Cool class in theory but... they still don't do anything besides go hit people.
Axe Fighter - 0/10 - Boring.
Berserker - 0/10 - Boring.
Monk - 0/10 - Boring.
Ninja - 4/10 - FLONNE HYPE??????????
Rogue - 8/10 - Always been a fan of thief types.
Archer - 9/10 - Bowgirls > you.
Gunner - 6/10 - Needs more EO2 Gunners on the list.  PLAY ETRIAN ODYSSEY 2
Chemist - 9/10 - Loses points for not being only Alchemists.  Those other posers don't even make their items.
Cleric - 9/10 - Essential.
Elementalist - 7/10 - It's a neat idea.
Dark Mage - 1/10 - whatever
Status Mage - 4/10 - whatever
Summoner - 3/10 - whatever
Sage - 8/10 - Sanaki > you.
Morpher - 1/10 - whatever
Bard/Dancer - eleventybillion/10 - You should've seen that one coming.  PS: Needs more EO Troubadours on the list.  PLAY ETRIAN ODYSSEY
Geomancer - ....what the hell is the difference from the elementalist/10
Blue Mage - 7/10 - Tend to be too difficult to get Blue Magic making it somewhat less useful in practice.  Bonus points for Marivel being this class.  Marivel is awesome.
Mime - 9/10 - Generally not effective, but fun to use.  LFT Mime happens to be effective as well!
Dragon - Reis/10

[Yoshiken]

Rogue > Archer > Lancer (Dragoon) > Blue Mage > Geomancer > Swordsman > Ninja > Mime > Chemist > Dark Mage > Cavalry > Cleric > Knight > Magic Fighter > Elementalist > Bard/Dancer > Monk > Sage > Axe Fighter > Status Mage > Gunner > Berserker > Summoner > Dragon > Morpher

That's my list. I'd add comments, but... meh, effort. ^^''

[alanna82]

Knight 7/10 , interpreting this is as a paladin type
Swordsman 5/10 boring
Magic Fighter 9/10 Love hybrid classes like this
Lancer 4/10 meh
Cavalry 6/10
Axe Fighter 1/10
Berserker 2/10 would be a 1, but I like FE berserkers
Monk 7/10 I dont get the Monk hate here, FFT Monks and SF monks are awesome
Ninja 9/10 LOVE fast characters
Rogue 4/10
Archer 8/10 get too much hate on most sites
Gunner 8/10 Love FFT's gunners
Chemist 5/10 Never loved them
Cleric 4/10 usually have annoying personality
Elementalist 10/10 My favorite FFTA class
Dark Mage 3/10 HATE Dark emo mages
Status Mage 3/10 Status is worthless
Summoner 5/10 Like the FF9 summoners, but not really most others
Sage 7/10 all wise and stuff
Morpher 8/10 ah, not the FFTA class. Shapeshifter would be a better name
Bard/Dancer 10/10 What, I love Dancers. Dancers are my favorite class of all time. Especially with swords.
Geomancer 9/10 Love these people too
Blue Mage 7/10 cool but abilities are hard to learn
Mime 0/10 Yes I gave a 0
Dragon 9/10 Dragons are sexy.

[Nitori]

Knight - 0/10 - It's always the first on the list and no one ever takes it, because it's boring
Swordsman - 0/10 - Oh look I'm not wearing armor and am faster.
Magic Fighter - 0/10 - They always end up sucking at both things they do
Lancer - 0/10 - Knights with spears. I am like so excited right guys
Cavalry - 0/10 - The only thing special about this is that they are on a horse and no game ever has trample damage
Axe Fighter - 0/10 - There are no competent any of these ever
Berserker - 0/10 - It's like Axe Fighter made more useless. That is impressive
Monk - 0/10 - The direction with these guys always seems to focus wildly. At best they're a Magic Fighter slightly leaned to one side but still completely replaceable easily. Yay~
Ninja - 0/10 - I never see any caltrops, it's all shuriken this and dodge that
Rogue - 0/10 - Too specialized and too useless otherwise; I hate having things forced on me~
Archer - 0/10 - Turn based archery is just so many levels of pointless differences
Gunner - 0/10 - Too many PISTOLS and not enough heavy guns~
Chemist - 0/10 - I'm always hoarding items and they're always using them, I see a conflict of interest here
Cleric - 0/10 - Healing is for people who aren't MANLY
Elementalist - 0/10 - If you want to exploit elements you usually have to know beforehand. TOO MUCH TIME
Dark Mage - 0/10 - Basically as Djinn described it they're either the same as or worse than the above. Yay~
Status Mage - 0/10 - JRPG status, all the theoretically useful spells that are all slower then just killing things.
Summoner - 0/10 - It usually ends up being MT damage too expensive to kill the randoms I want to kill~
Sage - 0/10 - See Magic Fighter
Morpher - 0/10 - We always need less DBZ elements
Bard/Dancer - negativeeleventybillion/10 - They could have made like items for these instead
Geomancer - 0/10 - You can't pick your environment so they are too UNRELIABLE
Blue Mage - 0/10 - It sounds cool but then the uberspell is missable
Mime - 0/10 - If I wanted another of something I'd make another of something. If it runs off their stats said stats are usually horrible too~!
Dragon - 0/10 - Wait, these are usually the ENEMY. I'm not giving points to the ENEMY.

Delita's Sis - 10/10 - The only class anyone needs ever. Brilliant in all concepts and design.

[Bardiche]

Bard/Dancer - negativeeleventybillion/10 - They could have made like items for these instead

Chemist - 0/10 - I'm always hoarding items and they're always using them, I see a conflict of interest here

Knight - 7/10, I like knights. Heavy defense and offense = good.
Swordsman - 7/10, I dislike the generic frailty that comes with this class.
Magic Fighter - 5/10, and I outright hate how these never seem to please me in any way. Points for concept, utility, but loses out on being interesting enough for me to like the characters who get this.
Lancer - 8/10, like knights, just cooler.
Cavalry - 8/10, because Cavalry > you.
Axe Fighter - 8/10, like Swordsman except cooler.
Berserker - 1/10, I LIKE CONTROL.
Monk - 4/10, okaythanksletsmoveon. Gets a point for FFT Monk, another for FFTA Monk, then lastly for FF3 girl monks~
Ninja - 0/10, boring.
Rogue - 1/10, RO Rogue. Useless, but sometimes amusing.
Archer - 11/10, Sagittarius~
Gunner - 7/10, I really don't like gunners all that much actually... but gets points for all WA mains, and the gunning non-mains.
Chemist - 3/10, for Alchemists. But I hate using items for my skills and spells, because I hate gathering the ingredients, so...
Cleric - 9/10, who DOESN'T like Healing? Nitoris excluded.
Elementalist - 1/10, meh.
Dark Mage - 3/10, but usually too frail for me to care much.
Status Mage - 0/10, theory does not work in practice.
Summoner - 0/10, MP cost from hell or just too freaking cheap.
Sage - 7/10, always interesting.
Morpher - 5/10, on and off thing.
Bard/Dancer - 11/10, <3
Geomancer - see elementalist
Blue Mage - 9/10, love the concept and designs, usually end up hating using them but that's okay.
Mime - 0/10, ...
Dragon - 4/10, knights r colar

[Monkeyfinger]

10/10:
Summoner

9/10:
Morpher
Lancer (Looking at the examples, shitty RPG spears tend to be in games where everyone can use any weapon and everything's a second wheel to some weapon type, usually swords. In RPGs with specialized weapon classes, the spear using ones are really fucking good, even though the spears themselves are usually meh. FF4 keeps this out of 10)

8/10:
Cavalry
Ninja
Cleric

7/10:
Monk
Knight
Status Mage (Same strange phenomenon as lances; the jack of all trades mages get the worthless status spells and the specialized status mages get the good ones.)

6/10:
Dark Mage
Swordsman
Dragon

5/10:
Gunner
Chemist

4/10:
Sage
Elementalist
Bard/Dancer (1/10 based on JRPGs, 7/10 based on WRPGs)

3/10:
Berserker
Geomancer
Archer
Axe Fighter

2/10:
Magic Fighter
Rogue

1/10:
Mime

0/10:
Blue Mage

[Clear Tranquil]

Awesme Djinn~

Berserker - 6/10

The one I'm mainly thinking of is FFX-2 Berserker with a certain grid/set up enabling them to ream through those deer/elk/moose things. Mad Rush from FFVIII also comes to to mind with it's perks like haste. Yeah the increased damage and often damage + speed combo from berserkers can be very nice indeed. Lack of control however is not.

Monk - 7/10

Tifa! Sabin! Kevin! Not entering Zell into this equation because Armageddon Fist/Calamity Symphony is just too hax >_> Regardless of any Tifa/Sabin fanatic hype however would have probably given Monk a 5 for being a pure brawler usually in games with better brawlers. However some monks like Kevin actually being able to do things like heal/buff brings it up a bit. Also because it's Kevin.
 
Ninja - 7/10 Edit: Does Shadow count here? >_>

Rogue - 5/10 Stealing! I don't usually need stealing when it comes to serious fights though.

Archer - 8/10

Reimi! Sharanda! Viola!

Gunner - 7/10

Has to use a gun  in an attempt to match up to the more natural badassery of an archer ;)

Chemist - 8/10

Assuming Alchemists also count here. These type of characters are usually able to do an incredible amount of variable and useful things. Some of them can be pretty hax too (see Rikku)

Status Mage 6.5/10 - What can I say I'm a status whore.

Summoner - 6.5/10 - Not entering Yuna into this equation <_< Iris is pretty darn good anyway though.

Morpher - 6.5/10 - Terra doesn't count! >_>

Bard/Dancer - MAX/10 - Peppita and Rind Rinna ftw! (Meru and Lucia too *flees*)

Blue Mage - 7/10

Yeah I'm factoring all of Quistis, Quina and FF5 Blue Magic into this~

Mime - 5/10

Bad stats.

[Taishyr]

Knight - 4/10. Cool in concept but I like my speed.
Swordsman - 6/10. Yep.
Magic Fighter - 8/10. Execution is their main issue, but I love the concept usually.
Lancer - 6/10. Love the idea, tends to be executed worse. Odd.
Cavalry - 1/10. Needs moar trample damage.
Axe Fighter - 1/10. yeah.
Berserker - 7/10. RAR SMASH SMASH SMAHS SAHSM
Monk - 7/10. Again, execution.
Ninja - 8/10. SPEEEEEEEED
Rogue - 10/10. Yeah, I like thieves/rogues. Sue me
Archer - 9/10. Archers too, though archers tend to get nerf stick'd.
Gunner - 10/10. Yep.
Chemist - 6/10. Would be 2/10 except FF5 and MK exist.
Cleric - 3/10. End battles faster~
Elementalist - 4/10. Meh.
Dark Mage - 4/10. Meh.
Status Mage - 6/10. I love the concept, but dabbler status mages tend to blow.
Summoner - 6/10. Love the concept, but usually too broked to be fun to dick around with OR too ineffectual.
Sage - 7/10. All-arounders work.
Morpher - 9/10. Love the idea, yeah. FFTA MORPHERS FTW
Bard/Dancer -7/10. Again, love the concept, but they tend to be bad.
Geomancer - 8/10. See above.
Blue Mage - 10/10. Yep.
Mime - 1/10.
Dragon - 6/10.

[Random Consonant]

Knight - Hits stuff with swords.  Simple, effective, and boring as hell. 4.5/10

Swordsman - Less boring than the knight, though not by much. 5/10

Magic Fighter - Tend to either be awesome or lame by lategame, with little in the way of middle ground.  Still, not nearly as boring as the above two classes. 8/10

Lancer - About as boring as the knight. 4.5/10

Cavalry - FE Cavs are win. 7/10

Axe Fighter - Better than the berserker, but not by much. 2.5/10

Berserker - FE saves this class from the shitter. 2/10

Monk - Fail. 1/10

Ninja - See swordsman. 5/10

Rogue - Stealing is actually useful in some games!  Just not the vast majority of them.  And rogues have a distressing tendency to suck when not stealing.  3.5/10

Archer - Archers have a distressing tendency to suck.  Except for Ronixis.  He was good.  2.5/10

Gunner - Cooler than archers.  RPG guns, though.  4.5/10

Chemist - Interesting enough in theory, but I can never be bothered to stock up on items. 5/10

Cleric - Healing.  Pity they have a tendency to be about as boring as the knight, but still, healing. 8/10

Elementalist - Either works really well or is really pointless.  Still, less boring than half the classes here. 7/10

Dark Mage - See above. 7/10

Status Mage - See above, only the class is useless more often than not. 3.5/10

Summoner - See Elementalist. 7/10

Sage - Not a fan of the whole slow as hell and dying to a stiff breeze thing. 3/10

Morpher - Eh. 5/10

Bard/Dancer - See Status Mage, I guess. 3.5/10

Geomancer - Interesting idea if nothing else. 6/10

Blue Mage - Worst method of learning abilities ever. 1/10

Mime - Fuck off and die/10

Dragon - Salamander~.  The rest can go burn. 7/10

[Scar]

Knight - 4 - They like swords.
Swordsman - 7 - Kinda generic, but I like em.
Magic Fighter - 8 - This is what main characters tend to be.
Lancer - 9 - They really put lances on a backburner to swords in most rpg.
Cavalry - 6 - Average, but Chris makes the grade a tad higher for her Lulu moment.
Axe Fighter - 3 - There really ought to be more bad ass axe users.
Berserker - 2 - I like control.
Monk - 5 - Monks range from awesome to peaceful squares.
Ninja - 8- Stealthy, mysterious, all around bad asses.

Rogue - 10 - My favorite job class. Coincidentally enough in FFXI I started off as a thief and ended up Dragoon/Thief. Thieves do get the short end of the stick in most rpgs though. Especially if said games has knives along with swords. Can't steal from most mobs, stolen items are generic save from like five diferent varients. There should be a thievery level said Thief needs to work up to with some sort of experience bar (WoW comes to mind) ... I'm ranting now. /rant =)

Archer - 5- Feelings vary from game to game on archers.
Gunner - 6 - Meh'ish.
Chemist - 4 - Never found a cool chemist in a rpg.
Cleric - 2 - Wow, you can heal. So what?
Elementalist - 5 - kinda neat.
Dark Mage - 5 - depends on the characters entirely. Frail is not my cup of tea.
Status Mage - 7 - Fun to play with.
Summoner - 5 - Can be cool.
Sage - 6 - Best of both worlds? Easier to kill?
Morpher - ? - Unsure.
Bard/Dancer - 9 - Love Bards. Anyone who can soothe someone with their voice and then smack you upside the head with a lute is bad ass.
Geomancer - 3 - Meh.
Blue Mage  - 6 - Like the concept, hate the grind.
Mime -1 - Gogo was mysterious!
Dragon -1 - Monsters are generic trash to me.

[TranceHime]

Knight - 6/10 - Only that high because SEVENTH DRAGON KNIGHT is bloody awesome. EO Protectors are also awesome, but that's about it. Knights can be a solid class, but they're pretty damn boring.

Swordsman - 6/10 - Swordsmen... Some are awesome, others... not as hot. They're pretty hit or miss to me. Unless it's a swordgirl. Swordgirls make everything better. The only swordsmen I have actual respect for come from Tales of, but that's because it's Tales.

Magic Fighter - 7/10 - Magic Fighters have always been a neat concept to me, however usually the way I see it is that there's at least one or two things about them that have been skewed in my point of view. They're certainly not boring, they can be solid (or not) but. Eh.

Lancer - 4/10 - I like spears but they're portrayed in such a boring manner. The only lancers I've managed to like are LKs from RO, but those don't count, so...

Cavalry - 7/10 - Rock face, but needs more estrogen~

Axe Fighter - 3/10 - The only good Axe Fighter I can think off of the top of my head is the 7th Dragon Fighter w/ an Axe, but that's only because of Purge and Unbalancer, two of the best skills in the game ever (Def. Kill comes close, but there's a weapon that has a Def. Down effect anyway).

Berserker - 0/10 - Just no.

Monk - 5/10 - It can either be a FFT Monk which is awesome or a FE Monk which is kind of boring (lol light mag user)

Ninja - 3/10 - Woooh ninjas broken original no not really.

Rogue - 9/10 - I admit, these guys are awesome. Insert 7th Dragon Rogue hype here. Also RO Rogues aren't very good, you want Stalkers (transcend Rogue) instead which are about 10000x better due to Chase Walk, Plagiarism, etc.

Archer - 8/10 - Neat.

Gunner - 8/10 - Insert EO2 gunner hype here

Chemist - 6/10 - Meh.

Cleric - 9/10 - I have a dear attraction to Clerics, don't ask why. Healing only seems kind of boring but something about them jut makes me like 'em.

Elementalist - 7/10 - Uhh, the FFTA2 Elementalist was pretty awesome! And not boring.

Dark Mage - 4/10 - Meh.

Status Mage - 5/10 - Can be either awesome or hilariously bad. Would be higher but not enough of the former exist.

Summoner - 8/10 - I like Summoners. They summon things. Summons blow things up.

Sage - 4/10 - Yay you do a lot of things. ZZZZzzzzz

Morpher - 8/10 - Actually pretty cool, too. Would be higher but I haven't seen enough of them.

Bard/Dancer - 9/10 - Many games have told me that these guys/girls are some of the best classes ever. I couldn't give it a 10 like I wanted to because there are some hilariously bad ones. RO Bards(Clowns)/Dancers(Gypsies), EO(2) Troubs, 7th Dragon Princesses, too awesome.

Geomancer - 6/10 - Meh.

Blue Mage - 8/10 - I like using monster skills they are broken.

Mime - 2/10 - Nice concept, boring everything else.

Dragon - See Tallychu~

[DjinnAndTonic]

The Power of Spreadsheets compels you!

I've decided to keep a running total of the DL's opinion of these classes. 'Morpher' has been renamed 'Shapeshifter' because, well, alanna's totally right about what my intention for that class was.

Feel free to continue to your opinions in this topic.

The results are somewhat surprising. Different from what I'd expect of a random sampling of gamers, somewhat more expected from the DL, though.

7.708333333   Bard/Dancer
7.341666667   Archer
6.872727273   Cleric
6.733333333   Blue Mage
6.472727273   Lancer
6.436363636   Magic Fighter
6.375   Gunner
6.208333333   Rogue
6.181818182   Cavalry
6.15   Chemist
6.127272727   Shapeshifter
5.966666667   Ninja
5.945454545   Elementalist
5.94   Geomancer
5.909090909   Swordsman
5.584266667 AVERAGE
5.475   Summoner
5.245454545   Knight
5.018181818   Sage
4.975   Dragon
4.95   Status Mage
4.763636364   Dark Mage
4.466666667   Monk
3.027272727   Axe Fighter
2.85   Mime
2.466666667   Berserker

[Veryslightlymad]

Knight ~ 7/10 Generally an above average unit.
Swordsman ~ 5/10 Generally a painfully average unit.
Magic Fighter ~ 6/10 Only as good as it is broken.
Lancer ~ 4/10 With little exceptions, doesn't do much more than gimmick.
Cavalry ~ 10/10 Mobility is essentially the most important part of a tactical combat system. Generally good weapon variety.
Axe Fighter ~ 7/10 Damage things
Berserker ~ 1/10 Damage things uncontrollably. FE Berserkers don't belong in this category.
Monk ~ 8/10 Reasonable mix of damage, HP, and healing, generally.
Ninja ~ 6/10 FF ninjas are decent. Other ninjas tend to be frail
Rogue ~ 7/10 Ranges from useless to essential.
Archer ~ 6/10 Games that don't let you shoot through walls bring the average way down.
Gunner ~ 5/10 As above, but with shittier weaponry.
Chemist ~ 10/10 Variety is as important as mobility.
Cleric ~ 8/10 Needed unless your chemist covers it.
Elementalist ~ 8/10 Magic damage
Dark Mage ~ 4/10 Well, Suikoden made them good.
Status Mage ~ 6/10 About as useful as the hit %
Summoner ~ 6/10 Lots of damage and variety. Too expensive.
Sage ~ 9/10 Essentially a better red mage.
Morpher ~ 7/10 Tends to be great for bosses.
Bard/Dancer ~ 7/10 Extremely erratic. FE and Suikoden 3 bring this average waaaaaay up.
Geomancer ~ 2/10 Terrain is usually not in your favor.
Blue Mage ~ 4/10 As good as the enemy is.
Mime ~ 2/10 As good as you are, but a bitch to control.
Dragon ~ Dragon is a class now? 3/10, as the Ryu's are probably more accurately morphers or summoners.

EDIT
Modified many results, as I thought this was supposed to be more about use and less on personal play style.
I tend to be a bruiser that hates MP limitations.

[BaconForTheSoul]

Knight  5/10- Have their uses, but typically don't carry.
Swordsman  8/10- Usually among my favorite characters.
Magic Fighter  3/10- I prefer focus!
Lancer  4/10- Meh
Cavalry  1/10- They're weaker fighters who move quicker, yippy!
Axe Fighter 1/10- One point for Hector, all others in all other games fail!
Berserker 0/10- No Hector, no points!
Monk 3/10- Usually boring.  I punch shit.  Cool.
Ninja  6/10- Stabbing > Punching
Rogue   9/10- STEALING = FUN
Archer   4/10- Not a huge archer person
Gunner   3/10- See archer, but worse
Chemist  8/10- Item mixing is fun
Cleric     9/10- Clerics always have uses
Elementalist  10/10- I prefer pure mages over all other classes usually
Dark Mage   7/10- Meh like a mage, but 1 dimensional
Status Mage   4/10- If that is their main focus, they fail
Summoner   9/10- Summoners are usually OP and can carry
Sage  6/10- Don't see Sages that often..
Morpher   10/10- Morphing is usually OP too!
Bard/Dancer  4/10- Awesome FE dancers canceled out by the fail that is the Bard
Geomancer   2/10- 2 points for Meepo!  (Seriously though, they usually annoy me.)
Blue Mage    6/10- Like a normal mage, but usually weaker
Mime   0/10- ANnoying
Dragon   8/10- Awesome!