Endwalker, the final expansion of the Hydaelyn and Zodiark arc of Final Fantasy 14's story, is finally here and offers many things for fans to see, do, and ultimately cry over. Among those things are two new Jobs, one of them being the Reaper, a melee-based DPS class that has many tricks up its sleeve.

RELATED: Final Fantasy 14: The Twinning Dungeon Guide

Taking on the role of Reaper is surprisingly easy to do. Still, if you're new to the Melee DPS action, some of the Job's rotations, abilities, and positioning can take some getting used to, especially in some of Endwalker's late-game offerings. However, don't let that deter you from choosing this Job, as it offers a unique and fun experience overall.

Updated April 28, 2022, by Seth Parmer: While the Reaper Job wasn't touched all that much since it launched with Endwalker. However, some things have been tweaked since then that affects the general approach to its Opener and general build. This update adds in two Openers for the Reaper, along with its "Best In Slot" build for Materia and Equipment.

Leveling Up

Despite the Job becoming available to Endwalker owners at level 70, the Reaper's true potential doesn't start showing until you obtain level 80 with it, which can take a bit of time and effort to achieve. In general, if you want to reach level 80 fast, you must be prepared to grind. A lot. Below is a list of activities you should seek out to get your Reaper up to level 80 the quickest way possible, which will then be a similarly grueling time making your way through the last ten levels.

FATEs

A common occurrence in Final Fantasy 14 whenever a new Jobs launch is "FATE trains," where a group of players in the same zone moves from one FATE to another to grind out EXP gains, allowing them to gain a decent amount rather quickly. These groups primarily consist of random players and will likely be happy to have you join the grind as the more players in the FATE train, the faster you will complete the FATE, making for much faster experience accumulation over time.

Duty Roulette

One of the most popular methods of farming experience is via the Duty Roulette, which has a daily bonus for completing each of the duties in the roulette, which should be your top priority for significant experience gains each day. However, note that since this is a DPS class, queue times are typically long and can take an extremely long time to find a Dungeon. But, the good news is that you can participate in the FATE trains mentioned above while waiting in your queue.

Nutsy Clan Hunt

Participating in the daily Nutsy Clan Hunts is an excellent way to earn large amounts of EXP and can be done on your own as well, which is always lovely. Head to The Crystarium and go to the Clan Hunt Board to take on these hunts. Your targets will always be in regions found within the Shadowbringers expansion.

Skirmishes/Critical Engagements

Skirmishes and Critical Engagements are encounters found within the Bozjan Southern Front in the Shadowbringers expansion. Skirmishes are very similar to FATEs as they will have you take on groups of enemies, defend targets, gather materials, etc. What makes Skirmishes a bit different from FATEs, however, is they have a chance at spawning Critical Engagements after completion, which is another excellent way to earn experience.

Critical Engagements must be registered from the Bozja Finder and get spawned in after completing Skirmishes (mentioned above) or defeating specific Magitek mobs in the area. Critical Engagements also allow 24 or 48 players into particular instances, which means it will pick players at random if more than the limit queued up to participate.

What makes Skirmishes and Critical Engagements worth your time, though? Well, these encounters will automatically scale your class up to level 80 and bring your gear up to 430, allowing you to earn a bit more experience than your current level if you can complete them with a group of others.

Trust System

Another system implemented into Final Fantasy 14 via the Shadowbringers expansion is the Trust System, which allows you to challenge dungeons with several of your NPC friends you've met throughout your journey. However, this method will be a bit monotonous, and you will be grinding out the same dungeons repeatedly. If you don't mind the grind, however, it takes roughly 3-4 dungeons to level up once, which could be much worse, we suppose.

Skillset Outline

The Reaper has a pretty solid initial set of skills available from the get-go as it starts at level 70 and has a wide range of powerful combos and incredible abilities you can pull off as a result. Although, for newcomers, this Job's Soul Gauge may seem daunting at first, but it is pretty manageable once you get the hang of it.

Opening Moves

Before launching into your basic combo strings, you should always perform one of two attacks depending on which combo you plan on using. This way, you will get the most out of the Reaper's special attacks.

• Single Attack Opener: Shadow of Death (Grants Death's Design effect)
  • Death's Design effect: 10% Damage Buff (30 seconds, stackable up to 60 seconds)
  • +10 Points to Soul Gauge when defeating enemies under the effect of Death's Design
• AoE Attack Opener: Whorl of Death (Grants Death's Design effect)
  • Death's Design effect: 10% Damage Buff (30 seconds, stackable up to 60 seconds)
  • +10 Points to Soul Gauge when defeating enemies under the effect of Death's Design

Basic Rotations

As with most Jobs in Final Fantasy 14, you will have two basic combo strings you will be executing religiously throughout your time with it. One combo is for use on single targets, while the other is an area of effect (AoE), allowing you to attack multiple targets simultaneously.

• Single-Target Rotation: Slice > Waxing Slice > Infernal Slice
  • +10 Points to Soul Gauge with each attack.
    • Use Blood Stalk when Soul Gauge reaches 50 Points to activate Soul Reaver.
• AoE Rotation: Spinning Scythe > Nightmare Scythe
  • +10 Points to Soul Gauge with each attack.
    • Use Grim Swathe when Soul Gauge reaches 50 Points to activate Soul Reaver.

Soul Reaver Attacks

When under the Soul Reaver effects, as detailed above, you will have to opportunity to perform a few attacks. To take full advantage of the Job, you must carry out one of these three attacks while Souls Reaver is activated, or they will become unavailable to use until you reactivate the effect again. Additionally, using these skills will buff another Soul Reaver attack, allowing you to deal a bit more damage in the following rotation. Furthermore, each ability will gain more potency when performing them from their respective orientations.

• Gibbet (Flank)
  • Enhances Gallows for the next rotation.
• Gallows (Rear)
  • Enhances Gibbet for the next rotation.
• Guillotine (AoE)
  • No known enhancement buffs

Other Important Attacks

With the basic attack rotations down, there are still a few more attacks you should be made aware of and implement into your combo strings as you see fit. These skills will allow you to evade grave danger, close in on your target, or even unlock your Soul Reaver attacks instantly. Be sure to sprinkle these into your combos as soon as they're available, as they are essential to getting the most out of the Reaper's toolkit.

• Soul Slice (Single Target) or Soul Slice (AoE)
  • Both share a cooldown timer of 30 Seconds one either gets used
  • +50 Points to Soul Gauge when either get used, allowing you to use Soul Reaver attacks immediately after.
• Hell's Ingress (teleports you 15 yalms forward) or Hell's Egress (teleports you 15 yalms backward)
  • Great for gaining ground on a target or evading a potentially fatal attack.
  • Both immediately ready the Harpe skill, which is great for dealing damage at range.

Using the outline above is the best way to get the most out of the Reaper, especially for beginners. Never underestimate the Soul Gauge and the Soul Reaver attacks it enables. Like the opening attacks, they are crucial to the class and let you deal the most damage possible. Once you get the rhythm and rotation of the class down, you will learn it's a relatively fast-paced Job and rewards you for being aggressive.

Opener

The Opener is taking everything laid out in the "Skillset Outline" above and implementing it in a series of attacks to begin a boss encounter off with a bang, setting you up for success throughout the rest of the instance. For most Melee DPS Jobs, the Opener boils down to finding ways to stay on target, apply buffs, and apply the most damage as possible at all times.

In the Reaper's case, we have two Openers for you to take a look at. The Standard Opener aims to get Gluttony out as soon as possible, allowing you to manage its cooldown more effortlessly than the Advanced route. The Advanced Opener places the use of Gluttony near the backend of the combo but deals much more damage in the long run (especially in Raids) but is more challenging to pull off. Every Off-GCD Action is presented in parentheses and is bolded to differentiate them from your standard GCD abilities.

Standard Opener

• Pre-Pull: (Soul Sow) > (Harpe)
  • Cast Harpe with two seconds remaining on the countdown
• Shadow of Death (Grade 6 Tincture of Strength) > Soul Slice (Arcane Circle + Gluttony) > Gibbet > Gallows > Plentiful Harvest (Enshroud) > Void Reaping > Cross Reaping (Lemure's Slice) > Void Reaping > Cross Reaping (Lemure's Slice) > Communio > Soul Slice > Unveiled Gibbet > Gibbet

Advanced Opener

• Pre-Pull: (Soul Sow) > (Harpe)
  • Cast Harpe with two seconds remaining on the countdown
• Shadow of Death (Arcane Circle) > Soul Slice > Soul Slice (Grade 6 Tincture of Strength) > Plentiful Harvest (Enshroud) > Void Reaping > Cross Reaping (Lemure's Slice) > Void Reaping > Cross Reaping (Lemure's Slice) > Communio (Gluttony) > Gibbet > Gallows (Unveiled Gallows) > Gibbet

Equipment And Materia Management

Getting your Opener/Rotations down to a science is just half the battle when it comes to Final Fantasy 14's battle system, and the other half falls entirely on how you build your character in terms of their equipment and melding. While you can get through most of the game's early or MSQ-focused sections with the bare minimum gear and Materia, you will need to invest heavily into beefing them up if you plan on doing post-MSQ content. Below is a look at a Level 90 build for a Reaper with iLevel 600 Gear (iLevel 605 weapon) and the proper Materia pairing.

With the above table demonstrating what a maximum level Reaper build looks like, it's important to note that your build may require you to target specific stats with Materia. If you want to learn the ins and outs of Final Fantasy 14's Materia system, please check out our complete guide for it here! In addition to the Opener/Rotations and equipment management, you can also squeeze a bit more damage out of the Reaper by using Grade 6 Tincture of Strength during your Opener and can consume the Pumpkin Potage food item before entering Raids, Trials, or Dungeons.

NEXT: Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker - How To Unlock The Sage Job