Bravely Default job tiers. Iām only rating them based on how they stand on their own, otherwise there are too many variables to tier them accurately. So just because a job is low-tier on its own doesnāt mean it isnāt super effective when paired with another job.
S
Salve-Maker: An extremely good job that can do pretty much anything. You can provide support, offense, healingāSalve Maker is whatever you want it to be. For those stingy people who save their megalixirs, you can use Widen Area and use one elixir for the same effect, at the expense of 1 BP. Compounding is the main tool, but the salve makerās other skills canāt be ignored, such as the AOE resurrect skill.
Vampire: You donāt get this job till late in the game, but for good reason. Every skill this class has is useful. Drain Attack Up ensures that you never run out of MP or HP; combine that with Absorb Physical Damage, Absorb Stats, & Rise from Dead, and suddenly youāre hard to kill. The skills you can get from Genome Drain are excellent, and itās the only way you can get the -ja class of spells from the streetpass bosses.
Performer: Every skill this job has is useful, and all of them (except One More For You) is AOE. Try to ensure that this job always has more than 0 BP available. My Hero gives the party BP straight upāno downsides.
White Mage: Obviously, this job is great at healing and keeping the party alive. The blessed shield is the best item you can give to this job, and it will last through the entire game. Free healing for 0 cost. Epic Group Cast is an amazing passive skill, as is Conservation of Life.
A
Templar: One word: Rampart. This skill alone bumps the Templar up to A tier IMO. Templar gets some nice passive skills, but theyāre strictly for use by other jobs (like Magic Critical). BP Limit Up is handy, since it usually means you can use a strong BP skill and not go below 0. Iām a big fan of Critical Amp.
Dark Knight: The whole point of Dark Knight is to drain your own HP so you can use Minus Strike. Have a Knight protect you so that you can use Minus Strike all day.
Swordmaster: Very powerful job. Katanas are some of the strongest weapons, and only a swordmaster has innate mastery (EDIT: Not true, Dark Knight also has mastery). This job is not S tier because you spend a lot of time defending and waiting for the enemy to hit you. There are ways to get aggro, though. This job is useless during Bravely Second.
Ninja: All you really need to be effective is Utsusemi, Transience, and Comeback Kid. Always have Utsusemi on, even if you have to go below -1 BP to do it. Kairai is good for when you have a Swordmaster that needs targeting.
Spiritmaster: Extremely useful abilities. The only problem is the high BP cost of the skills; this job requires a bit of maintenance, so make sure you have ways to restore BP quickly.
Valkyrie: This job is great due to the jump skills. You canāt get hurt at all during a jump. Thereās a bit of redundancy with a few of the skills, but Bravely Second can help with that since damage isnāt capped. Super Jump may seem like it costs a lot, but youāre still recovering BP during the delay. So when you finally land, you donāt have to wait long to act. Spirit Barrier is handy because you donāt need MP for much else (most Valkyrie skills use BP).
Spell Fencer: Itās essentially a black mage that isnāt as much of a glass cannon. They require a bit of setup, but theyāre good once they get going. Memento is nice if you can afford it.
B
Conjurer: For a late-game job, conjurer isnāt that good. Its skills only affect the caster, and other jobs can provide much better support, like the Performer. The conjurerās passive skills, on the other hand, are super good. MP regen is really nice to have when you donāt want to use ethers, and Obliterate is one of the best skills in the game, period. That skill makes grinding trivial.
Knight: The knightās deal is to tank. One might expect this job to deal damage, but thatās actually one of its shortcomings. If you want power, use another job. You wonāt get much use out of this job, but I found it to be handy in a few fights, especially in one of the late sidequests. If you use Dual Shields, you can take just about anything and hardly die. Itās worth leveling up this job just for Two-Handed, and then changing jobs afterwards.
Pirate: The only reason this job isnāt lower is because its abilities are useful in boss fights. Otherwise, donāt expect to use this job a whole lot. Mass Attack is too risky to use. Once you get Vampire, thereās no reason to use this class anymore. Its lack of passive abilities hurts it.
Monk: Monks donāt really shine until you get their last skill, Natural Talent. You turn into even more of a glass cannon, but with the right setup, you can one-shot your way through common battles, and make short work of boss battles.
Black Mage: This is an OK job overall. A glass cannon that needs maintenance to be viable. Damage Dispersion is nice since mages typically canāt take a hit. Pierce M. Defense makes mages dangerous and is worth using if you can afford to. Group Cast All is also great, but sadly you canāt have that and pierce M. defense.
Red Mage: This job is far more useful for its passive skills than its active skills. Besides being a mediocre magic user, you have access to lots of BP, which can be used for whatever secondary job youāre using.
C
Ranger: Overall, the Ranger is a weak job. It doesnāt have many useful abilities except for Precision, which would be useful with the Ninja job since they deal the most hits.
Freelancer: This job actually has some OK passive skills, but most of its active skills leave a lot to be desired, until you get Mimic. Mimic can be great as long as you pay attention to what the last action was. What makes it cool is that thereās no HP/MP/BP cost to using it.
Summoner: Where this job falters is during boss battles, where youāre usually fighting one enemy. Most common battles arenāt too difficult, so they donāt warrant the use of summons other than to see how they look. The other problem with this job is that thereās no variety. All of them deal damage; no support summons or anything.
Thief: Steal is only good vs. bosses. The stuff you get from common battles is junk, so it kinda sucks that you have to waste a job slot on the thiefās skills just to get a piece of gear from a boss. Raid is an excellent skill, but sadly it can only trigger during common battles.
Arcanist: Basically, this job only serves to support the black mage via its passive skills. Most of the active skills are too situational to be of any use.
Time Mage: A bit underwhelming. Some of its better spells only work in common battles. Hasten World is worth using if you can maintain control of the battle and not let the enemy use the extra BP.
D
Merchant: The only use for this job is to get the More Money skill. Otherwise the only time you might use this job is when you donāt need money anymore.