Tarutaru: Guide to Job Selection

Bard

Tarutaru make excellent Bards. They have the highest Charisma stat along with the Elvaan and Humes, so their enfeebling songs are more accurate. With an enormous MP pool and a White Mage support job, they can serve as amazing sub-healers as well. Their low HP and Vitality make it harder when they get attacked, but high Agility compensates.

Beastmaster

Some Beastmasters can party very well and others can solo. Taru Beastmasters are the ones that can solo. High MP lets them equip an effective White Mage support job and allow themselves to solo monsters with great ease. Their incredibly high Charisma stat not only allows the Beastmaster's Charm ability more accurate, but its effect lasts longer. Low HP and Vitality means that if things get rough, it might get a little heated. Low Strength hinders their ability to damage-deal in parties though with a few tweaks to gear, namely their RSE they can perform wonderfully in parties too.

Black Mage

The Tarutaru Black Mage is a prime example of when the most statistically ideal race meets the job, almost to a fault. Tarutaru are by far the most powerful Black Magic casters in all of Vana'diel, by their natural stats alone.

Tarutaru have an incredible amount of MP which allows them to continue casting in battles while other races would need a moment to recover. As if that wasn't enough, their high Intelligence means that every spell cast causes fairly intense damage.
This isn't to say that Tarutaru make the best Black Mages in the game. If things get out of hand, their low HP and Vitality (coupled with the job's already low HP and VIT) can spell death for any Black Mage that goes a little bit over the hate threshold. With moderation, though, Tarutaru Black Mages can deliver effective, continuous spells without getting too much of the monster's hate. If, however, that does become a problem, Tarutaru's high Agility can come in for the save.

Blue Mage

These Blue Mages are more on the "mage" end of the spectrum. With low Strength, their "physical" spells might take a hit. On the other hand, their enormous MP pool and a lot of Intelligence can make their "magical" spells very menacing. Since every stat plays a vital role in this job, absolutely no race is really 'good' or really 'bad' at it. A Tarutaru Blue Mage with a mage support job can go a long way. High MP also means that it's easier to get spells, since you can outlast the target monster.

Corsair

A Tarutaru's naturally high Agility stat means that their ranged attacks are not only more accurate, but as Marksmanship weapon skills are all based on the AGI stat, their weapon skills are also a lot more powerful. Their amazing MP also means that with a White Mage support job, these Corsairs can play a very large role in keeping the party cured as a secondary healer. The only stat that hinders Tarutaru Corsairs is their low Strength, meaning hit-by-hit, their shots will deal less damage, which in turn generates less enmity.

Dancer

Tarutaru can make excellent Dancers. High AGI and CHR are nice for evasion and waltzes, respectively. Though the low Tarutaru HP may make soloing monsters more difficult, high DEX makes Tarutaru one of the more accurate races, which is extremely important both in solo and party play for a TP dependent job like DNC. Like Blue Mage, Dancer is a job in which every stat has a role, and one race is not really much better than another, just different.

Dark Knight

Low Strength hinders their damage per hit, but is easily made up with their high Dexterity stat, meaning they deal less damage per hit and leading to less Enmity, but they hit often, so they get higher TP. High Agility makes them more survivable and almost makes up for their lack in Vitality. High MP allows them to cast more spells including their Drains and Absorb spells. High Intelligence means their black magic deals more damage per hit too. This is especially useful for their Absorb line of spells, which means they can make up for their lack in STR with Absorb-STR, or VIT with Absorb-VIT. Low HP means their Souleater job ability deals less damage, but higher with INT, Tarus can add more HP to their total than any other race with the spell, Drain II, which helps to compensate. Low STR means their early weapon skills will be hindered. However, in the latter half of the game, the weapon skills for Scythes and Great Swords will benefit from a Taru's higher INT.

Dragoon

Tarutaru make very good soloing Dragoons, since they have high MP, so they can last a lot longer with a White Mage support job. High Intelligence mitigates direct-damage spells against them and also increases any spells they cast that deals direct damage. High Agility means they can dodge attacks more frequently, and high Dexterity means they hit more often. Low Strength hinders their ability to deal damage per hit and per weapon skill, so parties might be a little bit harder to find.

Monk

Monk is a job that requires four stats: Strength for damage per hit, Dexterity for hit rate, Mind for damage through Chi Blast, and Vitality for damage mitigation and Chakra recovery. Unfortunately for Tarutaru, they have the lowest of all of those stats except for DEX. They can still do a good job with it, especially since a Monk's main problem is going over the hate threshold. With the right gear and mindset, as well as knowledge of how to play the job effectively, Tarutaru can play this job just as well as any other race. It's a good challenge for many, and they take it.

Ninja

Tarutaru make pretty good Ninja. Their amazing Agility makes it very easy to avoid taking damage. High Intelligence helps their elemental Ninjutsu deal more damage, therefore getting more hate, and also makes their debuffing Ninjutsu more accurate, and getting more for their money. Low Strength makes this already hard-to-get-hate job even harder, because damage over time is the best way for this job to acquire hate. Low Vitality and HP means that if their shadows go down, they have a much harder time staying alive.

If you are one of the very few Ninja who want to do something other than tank, namely damage-deal, pull, enfeeble, and/or nuke, Tarutaru excel even further. With the second-highest AGI in the game, Tarus have a higher accuracy with the most powerful weapons in the game: Shurikens. Their low STR is made-up by a high DEX stat, so damage-dealing really is no problem for Taru Ninja. With the highest INT in the game, again, they will get a more powerful elemental wheel through elemental Ninjutsu, and will make enfeebling your targets a breeze. The major downside is very, very few parties will invite Ninja for anything other than tanking. If you wish to pursue this path, your best bet is to make your own parties. A static party may help.

Paladin

Puppetmaster

Puppetmaster was created to be a sort of amalgamation of Summoner, Dragoon, and Beastmaster with the longevity of pets from DRG, the independent damage dealing capacity of SMN and the soloability (albeit a different style) of BST. With that being said, you should always keep your Automaton's skills, equipment, and accessories in top priority. Particularly once one has advanced to the upper levels, this is really all that matters, and as the master, you are just there to help your Automaton with anything it does. Automatons can tank, deal damage, nuke, or even heal, with the latter two capacities being made dramatically more potent in the last few updates. Since Tarutaru lack in Strength, Vitality, and HP, they don't make great tanks, but this would only matter in soloing. Tarutaru MP makes it possible to, with a White Mage support job, backup Cure while their Automaton does whatever it needs to do.

Ranger

Tarutaru Rangers are really awesome to watch. Low Strength means they deal slightly less damage per shot, but amazing Agility means their ranged attacks are more accurate, and AGI influences damage on every single ranged Weapon Skill in the game- even more so with Marksmanship. This job has very low Evasion, defense, and Vitality, and coupled with the Tarutaru's already low VIT and HP, it makes it very heated when they get hate. A Tarutaru Ranger should be played similar to how a Tarutaru Black Mage should be played: powerful, while still minding the hate threshold of the tank.

Red Mage

Tarutaru Red Mages are really amazing mages. They have an enormous supply of MP, so they can keep everything going for a long time. Eventually with Refresh and Convert, they can have an infinite supply of MP. High Intelligence also means that they have a lot better chance to land black magic enfeebles, and any direct-damage black magic spells. Low Mind is made up with a White Mage support job and the proper gear, so their white magic enfeebles have a higher chance to land. Their major problem lacks in the area of damage-dealing, which is something that most servers don't appreciate from Red Mages anyway, so with exception of later soloing, it's not a big deal at all.

Samurai

A tarutaru's high Dexterity lets them hit a lot more, potentially giving them a lot more TP over time. Offset by low Strength, which makes it harder to deal damage per swing, and slightly weaker weapon skills. High Agility makes them a survivable damage-dealer in the long run though. Their small stature shouldn't be overlooked, as these little guys can hang in there with the best of them.

Scholar

Pursuing a scholastic life is a difficult path for many, but none may be better suited to the demands than the Tarutaru! Believing that that mind is stronger than the sword, Taru Scholar's utilize their vast intellect to synergize their party's strengths. The Taru's high MP and INT make for some terrific war magic! The lower MND skill causes a little lag in healing, but when has that ever been a problem for a Taru? Initial levels are rough, unless a strategic sub-job is used. But that type of forward thinking is what Scholars are for!

Summoner

Summoner basically only requires one stat: MP. And Tarutaru have the highest MP in the game. That doesn't mean they're the best race for the job, but it means they can do with a lot of spellcasting and very powerful blood pacts later on. High Agility also means that they get extra survivability when they take on too much enmity. High MP for both the race and the job mean that HP is going to be potentially VERY low, which is a dangerous measure. Fortunately, unless they play the role of main healer in parties, they shouldn't get too much hate anyway. Needless to say, it works very well as a job/race combination, but that means that what the job lacks, the race lacks too, which isn't a good thing in a few situations.

Thief

These Thieves are almost just like their Mithra friends, with amazing Dexterity and Agility to help with their Sneak Attack and Trick Attack job abilities. Low Strength doesn't make a huge difference as this job, but it affects the damage per hit, so it makes it harder to deal damage until Lv.15+. Tarutaru Thieves are great to see on the front lines, and a lot of fun to play as.

Warrior

Tarutaru have a harder time playing this job than most due to a lack of damage-dealing and tanking stats. Their high Dexterity lets their TP grow faster thanks to more hits over time. High Agility lets them tank effectively with a shield (especially one of which that is larger size). Warriors don't have any problem with the Strength stat, so that makes up for the Tarutaru's lack of it, and the same goes with Vitality. Low HP and VIT might make meat shield tanking a lot harder. An amazing looking job/race combination that's only hindered by naysayers. With the right gear, this is a great combo.

White Mage

White Mage requires high Mind and lots of MP. Tarutaru certainly don't lack in the MP department; in fact, they have the highest MP out of all the five races. This means that they can keep the party alive for a longer period than the other races, by default. Unfortunately, they lack in the MND department, which means that their cures don't heal to their maximum until a level or two after other races would. This isn't really a big deal until Cure V anyway, since one through four have soft caps. High Agility influences the job's already high AGI, so survivability isn't as problematic. All-in-all, probably one of the better choices for White Mage.