Let's move on to the distribution of main job levels.

Last year's census indicated a decrease in the number of players playing one of the "standard jobs," or the six jobs that you can select when you begin playing the game (warrior, monk, white mage, black mage, red mage, and thief). This year sees a continuation of that trend, as the number of players using a standard job has decreased from 83% to roughly 65%. The extra jobs, including the three recently added jobs, seem to be on the rise.

Paladins and ninjas take the top spot for the most popular extra jobs, while the other jobs have a nearly equal number of players. However, the new job "blue mage" is worth particular notice, as it has garnered a large enough player base since its release to compete with the previously existing extra jobs.

For the third year in a row, the most popular main job/support job combination is white mage/black mage, followed by black mage/white mage. Also worth mention are the combinations ninja/warrior, which rose three spots since last year, and warrior/ninja and black mage/red mage, which were not even on the chart in the previous census.

The ninja and warrior combinations are highly popular because they allow players to use the abilities of both jobs together to maximize their performance in battle. For example, the ninjutsu "Utsusemi" can be used with the warrior job ability "Provoke" to attract an enemy's attention and then avoid its attacks. Also, players can increase the number of hits and the amount of damage they can inflict by combining the warrior job trait "Double Attack" and the ninja job trait "Dual Wield."

In addition to adding a number of powerful spells to players' repertoires, the black mage/red mage combination allows players to use the red mage job trait "Fast Cast" and offers an alternative style of play to the more common black mage/white mage combination.

Judging by the variety of job combinations seen in Vana'diel, players seem to be trying out a wide range of play styles.

≪Main Job Distribution≫

[ Main/Support Job Ranking ]

Ranking  Main Job  Support Job Relative Percentage Change from 2005 Census ( ) denotes 2005 ranking 1 White Mage Black Mage 13.00% → 2 Black Mage White Mage 10.31% → 3 Red Mage Black Mage 6.28% → 4 Ninja Warrior 4.79% ↑(7) 5 Monk Warrior 4.33% ↑(6) 6 Paladin Warrior 3.82% ↓(4) 7 Red Mage White Mage 3.61% ↑(10) 8 Warrior Monk 3.55% ↓(5) 9 Thief Ninja 3.20% ↓(8) 10 Warrior Ninja 2.82% ↑ (Unavailable) 11 Bard White Mage 2.26% ↑(13) 12 Beastmaster White Mage 2.10% ↓(9) 13 Thief Warrior 1.89% ↓(12) 14 Black Mage Red Mage 1.84% ↑ (Unavailable) 15 Summoner White Mage 1.78% ↓(14)   Others   34.42%

The following chart details new job acquisition from the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion disc. Out of all the players who have acquired a new job, more than half now have access to all three new jobs, indicating a high level of interest in the recent additions.

≪New Job Acquisition≫